EU DATA: Wheat exports reach 16.37 mil mt, corn imports seen at 3.4 mil mt

New Delhi — The European Union exported 16.37 million mt of wheat during July 1, 2020-Feb.7, 2021, according to EU Crop Observatory data released Feb. 8.

In the previous marketing year during July 1, 2019-Feb. 9, 2020, the EU, including the UK exported 19.87 million mt of wheat, according to the data.

The latest data is not comparable with the data until 31-12-2020, as the UK is no longer a member state of the EU, the report said.

Wheat exports from the EU have remained low during the 2020-21 season because of lower production in the bloc following unfavorable weather conditions. EU+UK is likely to produce 135.8 million mt wheat in 2020-21 compared to 154.51 million mt in 2019-20, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

During the period, France remained the top exporting country from the EU, followed by Lithuania and Latvia while Algeria, China, and Saudi Arabia were the top export destinations, the data showed.

China—a major destination for EU's corn and wheat exports and has been importing a lot of grains in the recent months.

The EU exported 1.56 million mt wheat to China, the data showed, higher than 902,453 mt exported to the country during the last year.

The EU imported 3.3 million mt of common and durum wheat during the period, higher than 2.83 million mt last year. Ukraine, Canada, and Russia were the largest wheat exporting countries to the EU, the data showed.

The bloc also exported 149,274 mt corn to China during the duration—higher than last year's 115,061 mt.

Corn imports remain low

Corn imports into the EU during the July 1, 2020-Feb. 7, 2021 period were at 9.98 million mt, the data showed, compared to 13.73 million mt imported by the EU and UK combined during the same period last year.

Corn imports into the EU in the 2020-21 season have remained low due to lower production in the EU's major corn supplier-Ukraine, according to analysts.

The share of Ukrainian corn imports into the EU as of Feb. 8 was 35.6% compared to 54.6% in 2019-20, the data showed. Typically, Ukraine is the largest supplier of corn into the EU, however, at this point it is Brazil with 34.6% share in EU's corn imports in the 2020-21 season so far.

Ukraine has decided to limit corn exports from the country in the 2020-21 marketing year (July-June) at 24 million mt following a proposal by various agricultural and feed associations to limit corn exports at 22 million in 2020-21 season mt citing domestic needs.

However, the agreed corn cap of 24 million mt is not likely to significantly change trade dynamics, as it is set at the same level as the USDA's January estimate, S&P Global Platts Analytics said in a report.