UK monthly wheat exports dipped below 100,000 tonnes in April for the first time in 2010/11 season (July/June), customs figures showed on Tuesday. Shipments totalled 93,056 tonnes, with Ireland the largest customer taking 26,436 tonnes. Wheat exports for the season-to-date totalled 2.44 million tonnes, up 21 percent from 2.01 million a year earlier.
A slowdown in exports had been anticipated with strong sales in the early part of the season helping to tighten supplies in the second half of the crop year. Spain, the most important customer for UK wheat in recent years, took just 4,400 tonnes in April bringing the total for the season to date to 563,164 tonnes, sharply down from 1.10 million in the same period last season.