January 20, 2011

 

UK wheat exports increase twofold to meet Spanish demand

 

 

UK's wheat exports, with a boost by Spain, has accelerated more in November with a strong jump - bringing them above the figure that official statisticians have written in for the whole crop year.

 

UK wheat exports topped 472,000 tonnes in the month, boosted by a 144,000-tonne shipment to Spain, customs data showed.

 

The spurt took cumulative exports for the 2010-11 crop year, which began in July, to 1.66 million tonnes more than twice as much as in the same period a year before.

 

Furthermore, it took the shipments total above the exportable surplus of 1.33 million tonnes which the UK farm ministry, Defra, has pencilled in for the whole year.

 

Indeed, analysts have been increasingly dismissive of the Defra estimate, which is calculated around a methodology of factoring in an average year-end stocks level, of 2 million tonnes in this case.

 

UK wheat exports topped 472,000 tonnes in the month, boosted by a 144,000-tonne shipment to Spain, customs data showed.

 

The spurt took cumulative exports for the 2010-11 crop year, which began in July, to 1.66 million tonnes more than twice as much as in the same period a year before.

 

Furthermore, it lifted the shipments total above the exportable surplus of 1.33 million tonnes which the UK farm ministry, Defra in a report last week pencilled in for the whole year.

 

Indeed, analysts have been increasingly dismissive of the Defra estimate, whose methodology relies on factoring in an average year-end stocks level, of 2 million tonnes in this case.

 

Earlier this week, Jamie Nolan, the FCStone analyst, termed the Defra projection "unrealistic".

 

He added that the pace of shipments placed a "question mark over the UK's ability to meet sales already on the books with current stocks".

 

Many analysts believe UK buyers will be increasingly forced to turn to imports as the season progresses.

 

Exports to Germany, which suffered a disappointing harvest last summer, added 35,000 tonnes to reach a cumulative total of 145,000 tonnes so far - more than five times the total for the whole of 2009-10.

 

London wheat for January closed 1.8% higher at GBP194.10 (US$309.64) a tonne, with the better-traded May lot gaining 1.8% to GBP199 (US$317.46) a tonne.