Highlights

EU now net grain importer of 7.65 million tonnes   Last year net exporter of 3.9 million tonnes    EU soft wheat export ahead of imports at 500,000 tonnes   Sorghum imports increases 8-fold from last year

March 3, 2008

  

EU's corn, sorghum and wheat import continues to rise

 

 

EU licenses to import corn and sorghum rose again in the week ending Feb. 26, to keep the block as a large net grain importer for the 2007-08 marketing year, EU data showed Friday ( February 29, 2008).

 

Licenses to import corn rose 108,000 tonnes on the week to total 9.3 million tonnes at 35 weeks into the campaign, which is up more than 2.5 times from the same time last year when licenses tallied 3.6 million tonnes.

 

Sorghum licenses increased by 228,000 tonnes on the week to bring the marketing year total to 4.0 million tonnes. At the same time last year licenses totaled just 501,000 tonnes.

 

 

Soft wheat
 

Partially offsetting the rise in corn and sorghum import licenses, soft wheat export licenses rose by 226,000 tonnes on the week to 4.5 million tonnes.

 

Meanwhile, licenses to import soft wheat climbed just 44,000 tonnes on the week for a marketing year total so far of 3.994 million tonnes.

 

This puts the EU as a net soft wheat exporter of 501,000 tonnes for the marketing year so far, up from 319,000 tonnes a week earlier.

 

Traditionally the EU is a net soft wheat exporter but sales this season got off to a slow start, with import licenses exceeding those to export until early February. This slow start was due to uncompetitive prices on the global market, triggered by a smaller EU domestic harvest and as intervention stocks were used up.

 

Thus the EU net grain import figure stayed near steady. At 35 weeks into the campaign, EU licenses to import grain were 7.65 million tonnes more than those to export.

 

This was a sharp contrast to the same time last year when the EU was a net grain exporter of 3.9 million tonnes.

 

This is due mostly to an increase in corn and sorghum imports due to use as cheap feed alternative to wheat.

 

Traditionally the EU is a net grain exporter, but grain imports rose sharply due to domestic crop-production problems, high feed wheat prices, and insufficient intervention supplies.