On Tuesday, data published by the European Commission revealed that since the start of the 2024/25 season in July, EU soft wheat exports had reached 7.76 million metric tons by Nov. 3. This figure represents a significant 32% decline compared to the 11.33 million tons exported during the same period in the 2023/24 season.
Similarly, EU barley exports for the current season totaled 1.70 million tons, which is a 39% decrease from the 2.77 million tons exported in the corresponding period of the previous season.
The curtailment of EU cereal exports can be attributed to harvest setbacks. Heavy rain in western Europe has led to a 12-year low in EU soft wheat production and has kept barley output near a 12-year low from 2023.
However, there are issues with the completeness of the export data. The Commission stated that grain export data for Italy has been incomplete for the last seven weeks, and data for France has been incomplete since the beginning of calendar year 2024. Additionally, export data for Bulgaria and Ireland has not been complete since the beginning of the 2023/24 marketing year.
A breakdown of the export volumes for this season shows that Romania is the leading EU soft wheat exporter, having shipped 2.43 million tons so far. Lithuania follows with 1.08 million tons, Latvia with 1.04 million tons, Poland with 0.75 million tons, and Bulgaria with 0.71 million tons. France, which is typically the biggest EU wheat exporter but has been hit by its smallest crop since the 1980s, has only exported 0.66 million tons so far this season, placing it just behind Germany with 0.69 million tons, as per the data.
EU 2024/25 Soft Wheat and Barley Exports Plunge by Nov. 3 Amid Harvest Setbacks and Incomplete Data Issues