PARIS: Farm office FranceAgriMer on Wednesday lowered its forecast of French soft wheat exports in the 2021/22 season, citing an expected shift to maize use in animal feed after a rally in wheat prices and increased competition on international markets.
In monthly forecasts, the office cut projected soft wheat shipments within the European Union to 7.8 million tonnes from 8.0 million seen last month due to lower sales to animal feed makers in Benelux countries and Spain, Marc Zribi, head of FranceAgriMer’s crop unit, told reporters.
In a similar move, FranceAgriMer cut its estimate for the use of soft wheat by animal feed makers in France to 4.8 million tonnes, from 5.2 million last month. European wheat prices rallied to record highs last week, supported by concerns over global supplies and strong international demand.
French soft wheat exports outside the bloc in 2021/22 were lowered to 9.4 million tonnes from 9.6 million estimated in October due to higher competition from southern hemisphere producers Argentina and Australia expected in the first part of the July/June season, Zribi said. For maize, FranceAgriMer raised projected 2021/22 stocks to 1.9 million tonnes from 1.8 million forecast last month. This was mainly due to a 1.1 million tonne rise in the crop estimate that would not be fully compensated by higher exports, including an 800,000-tonne increase in projected sales within the EU to 4.8 million tonnes. This year’s maize harvest in France is expected to be the largest since 2014, the French ministry said on Tuesday. Growers group AGPM said on Wednesday it expected a record average yield of 11 tonnes per hectare. For barley, the office raised its forecast of stocks at the end of the 2021/22 season to 1.4 million tonnes from 1.3 million estimated in October, mainly due to a rise in the delivered crop.
Comments
Comments are closed.