PARIS: Soft wheat exports from the European Union since the start of the 2023/24 season in July had reached 9.33 million metric tons by Oct. 22, down 22% compared with 11.98 million a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

A breakdown of the data showed Romania remained the biggest EU soft wheat exporter so far in 2023/24, with 2.57 million tons shipped, followed by France with 1.83 million, Poland with 1.65 million, Bulgaria with 937,000 and Lithuania with 890,000.

EU wheat shipments this season have been curbed by Russian competition, though large recent sales of French wheat to China may boost the EU export pace in the coming months.