April 18, 2012

 

UK wheat exports at slower pace than last season

 

UK wheat exports were slightly lower during February and stayed slower than last year's pace even though with the shipment of a further cargo to the United States, customs data showed on Tuesday (April 17).

 

Shipments during February totalled 212,701 tonnes, down from 214,562 tonnes in January, the figures showed.

 

Cumulative shipments for the 2011/12 season, which started on July 1, 2011, were 1.98 million tonnes, down from 2.24 million in the same period a year earlier.

 

The February total included 47,250 tonnes to the US, bringing shipments for the season-to-date to 195,448 tonnes. There were no shipments to the US in the 2010/11 season.

 

The wheat was bought earlier in the season when the comparative strength of US corn prices prompted some animal feed makers to switch to using feed wheat.

 

Trade sources said the customer is believed to be a feed compounder on the US East Coast.

 

Spain was the largest customer for UK wheat during February, taking 57,388 tonnes for a cumulative total so far this season of 417,810 tonnes, down from 549,595 tonnes in the same period a year earlier.

 

Shipments to the Netherlands, the most important customer during the last couple of years, were 48,060 tonnes in February for a season-to-date total of 778,350 tonnes, up from 552,696 tonnes in the year earlier period.

 

UK rapeseed exports rose sharply during February to 155,150 tonnes, up from 82,746 tonnes in January.

 

Cumulative shipments for the season-to-date climbed to 634,576 tonnes, well above the 294,101 tonnes exported during the same period last season.

 

Rapeseed exports had been expected to rise sharply this season following a record harvest in 2011.