France sees wheat area rebounding by less than expected

PARIS: France's farm ministry on Tuesday projected a sharp rebound in the country's wheat area for next year after rain disrupted the previous sowing campaign, but its estimate was well short of market expectations.

In its first sowing estimates for next year's harvest, the ministry pegged the country's winter soft wheat area for the 2021, harvest at 4.73 million hectares (mn ha), up 12.4pc compared with the previous year's 4.21mn ha.

However, that was 1.9pc below the average of the past five years and lower than market estimates projecting 5-5.2mn ha.

Traders and analysts had been expecting a very strong recovery in wheat sowing after field conditions improved markedly this autumn.

In its crop report, the ministry said that while winter cereal sowing was expected to expand after last year's adverse weather, it would remain below the five-year average. It did not give further details.

Soft wheat is France's main cereal variety and the area is almost entirely made up of winter crop sown during autumn.

For durum wheat, the type used in pasta, the ministry estimated the winter crop area would rise 8.8pc year on year to 237,000 hectares but be 23.5pc below the five-year mean.

Winter barley sowing was pegged at 1.26mn ha, up 6.6pc from the previous year and 5.7pc lower than the average.

Barley production in France also includes a significant amount of spring-planted crop.

For winter rapeseed, France's main oilseed crop, the ministry estimated that the area would reach 1.13mn ha, up 1pc on the area harvested in 2020 although 17pc under the five-year average.

Market participants have been anticipating a fall in rapeseed area due to later-summer drought that hampered sowing of the oilseed, which is sown earlier than cereals.