PARIS: A first cargo of French wheat for the Philippines in more than 12 years is due to load in the coming days, port sources said, adding to an unusual run of French wheat exports to far-away Asian destinations this season.
The Tai Harmony bulk carrier is due to arrive on Friday at France’s Rouen port, where it will load 38,000 tonnes of animal-feed wheat before continuing along the north coast to Dunkirk to load an unspecified remaining volume, the sources said. The last shipment of French wheat to the Philippines was a 40,000 tonne cargo exported in November 2002, according to customs data.
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A fall in the euro and low freight rates have helped France sell to feed-wheat buyers in Asia part of its rain-affected 2014 crop that failed to meet the requirements of some bread-wheat importers.
Traders estimate France could ship around 600,000 tonnes of feed wheat to Asia in the 2014/15 July-June marketing season, with several cargoes already sent to Thailand and South Korea.
The Asian sales have contributed to a sharp upward revision to the official wheat export forecast of farm office FranceAgriMer, although French wheat exports are still expected to fall short of last season’s high level.
