French non-EU wheat exports dip in February after 2-month rise

PARIS: French wheat exports outside the European Union weakened in February, after rising for two months in a row, deepening the sharp setback recorded since farmers harvested their worst crop in three decades, customs data showed on Friday.

France, exported some 245,430 tonnes of soft wheat outside the European Union in February, down from 372,146 in January, taking the volume since the start of the 2016/17 season on July 1 to 3.0 million tonnes, down 55 percent from last season.

Top clients remained Algeria and Morocco but shipments also included destinations like Angola, Ivory Coast and Mali.

Including 451,581 tonnes exported to other EU member states, France shipped 697,011 tonnes of soft wheat in February. This took the country's total soft wheat exports since July 1 to 6.3 million tonnes, down 45 percent on the same period last season, the data showed.

In barley, French exports outside the EU reached 142,444 tonnes in February, including shipments to Tunisia, Jordan and Israel. This brought the volume exported outside the bloc so far this season to 1.3 million tonnes, down 62 percent on year.

Customs data also showed maize (corn) imports at 51,412 tonnes in February, bringing the total in the July-February period to 419,157 tonnes, up 45 percent on the previous season.