PARIS: French soft wheat exports slowed in August while imports accelerated, customs data showed on Friday, showing the impact of a poor harvest in the European Union’s biggest grain producer.
France shipped about 913,000 tonnes of soft wheat abroad in August, the second month of the 2016/17 marketing season, less than the 1.1 million tonnes exported in July. This left the volume exported since July 1 down 20 percent compared with the same period last season, the data showed.
French exports outside the EU in the first two months of the season were down 17 percent at 1.2 million tonnes, including 542,000 tonnes shipped in August. Intra-EU shipments came to 806,000 tonnes in July-August, down 25 percent, including 371,000 tonnes in August.
Algeria kept its position as the leading destination for French wheat. But the 205,000 tonnes shipped in August left cumulative exports since July down 46 percent from the same period last year at 496,000 tonnes. A steep fall in exports from France this season has been widely expected after this summer’s harvest showed the worst yields in 30 years along with mixed wheat quality.
The poor crop has also led to unusual import flows into France, and the customs data showed July-August imports were running 71 percent ahead of last season at more than 137,000 tonnes.
This included 115,000 tonnes in August, with the data listing just over 70,000 tonnes of wheat imported from Romania.
