French non-EU wheat exports rebound in March, barley sales surge

PARIS: French wheat exports to outside the European Union rebounded in March but non-EU shipments in the first nine months of 2016/17 remain well below last season after the worst harvest in three decades, customs data showed on Wednesday.

France, exported some 315,509 tonnes of soft wheat outside the EU in March, up from 245,430 tonnes in February.

Exports since the start of the 2016/17 season on July 1 stood at 3.36 million tonnes, down 60 percent from last season.

Algeria remained by far France's biggest non-EU wheat client in March, followed by Morocco and Cuba.

France also exported 585,745 tonnes of wheat to other EU member states, bringing total exports in the July-March period to 7.2 million tonnes.

For barley, French exports to outside the EU jumped to 502,834 tonnes in March from 142,444 the previous month, mainly due to large sales to Saudi Arabia, at 363,278 tonnes.

The March exports, the highest since the start of the marketing campaign, brought barley exports outside the bloc so far this season to 1.83 million tonnes, down 53 percent on the same period in 2015/16.

Total exports, including those within the EU bloc stood at 3.84 million tonnes, down 37 percent year.

Customs data also showed maize (corn) imports at 74,566 tonnes in March, bringing the total for the July-March period to 493,730 tonnes, up 47 percent on the previous season.