China imports 50,000 tonnes of UK wheat

China is importing 50,000 tonnes of wheat from the UK, with its vessel ready to pick up the cargo at the end of this week, according to grain merchant Frontier Agriculture on Thursday (Jan 8).

China has not bought any wheat from England in the past few years, and this will be the largest wheat vessel loaded in the UK so far this year, said Frontier, which is co-owned by Cargill and Associated British Foods.

China is a market that has been targeted for years therefore the shipment is a piece of good news, said Emma Finn, export manager for England's Home-Grown Cereals Authority.

Finn said the weakness of the British pound had helped England to gain access to new export markets. England has a large wheat surplus this year following a record harvest in 2008.