French July-February wheat exports down

France exported 993,195 tonnes of soft wheat in February, taking the volume since of the start of the 2011/12 season on July 1 to 11 million tonnes, down 15 percent on the same period last season, customs data showed on Wednesday. Shipments outside the European Union amounted to 442,697 tonnes, bringing the total so far this season to 6.1 million, down 29 percent on the same period in 2010/11, the data showed.
France exported a record 12.9 million tonnes of soft wheat outside the EU last season when it benefited from the absence of rival exporter Russia, which banned shipments for most of the season following a drought-hit harvest.