French non-EU wheat export outlook raised again, maize stocks cut

PARIS: Farm office FranceAgriMer on Thursday increased its forecast for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season for the third month in a row.

Soft wheat exports in the 2020/21 season are expected to reach 6.95 million tonnes compared with 6.85 million projected last month, FranceAgriMer's supply and demand data showed.

That would still be 48% below a record 13.46 million tonnes estimated for the 2019/20 season.

FranceAgriMer has previously pointed to brisk Chinese demand as supporting French exports, although traders have said the country's much smaller surplus this season after a disappointing harvest could cap shipments outside the EU at around 7 million tonnes.

Forecast soft wheat stocks at the end of 2020/21 were unchanged at 2.5 million tonnes, with the increase in non-EU exports offset by other adjustments including a cut to intra-EU shipments.

The projected soft wheat stocks at the end of the season on June 30 would be the lowest in seven years, FranceAgriMer's data showed.

Projected French maize stocks were cut to 1.9 million tonnes, the lowest in at least seven years, compared with 2.2 million last month.

The reduced stocks notably reflected a reduced harvest estimate and an upward revision to expected exports within the EU, FranceAgriMer's data showed.

Forecast barley stocks in 2020/21 were kept at a four-year low of 1.2 million tonnes.