Strategie Grains Raises EU Wheat Harvest, Export Outlook Again

(Agriculture.com) – Strategie Grains increased its forecasts sharply for EU soft wheat production and exports for the second month in a row, pointing to strong harvest results in France and Britain and brisk shipments from Romania and Bulgaria.

The French-based consultancy now sees 2019/20 soft wheat production in the 28-country European Union at 144.5 million tonnes, up from 142.9 million tonnes projected in August and about 14% above last year’s drought-hit crop, it said in a monthly grain report.

The upward revision, after Strategie Grains already raised its soft wheat harvest estimate by over 2 million tonnes last month, reinforces a market consensus that EU wheat crops mostly escaped damage from record-breaking heatwaves this summer.

For exports, Strategie Grains pegged EU soft wheat shipments this season at 25.7 million tonnes, up from 24.8 million projected by the firm a month ago and well above around 21 million exported in 2018/19.

However, wheat stocks in the EU were now expected to rise in 2019/20 as competition from maize (corn) and barley for use in animal feed and from other wheat origins in export markets would cap demand, Strategie Grains.