Reuters – French soft wheat shipments outside the EU finished the season at a four-year high in June, helping overall 2019-20 exports to reach a record level, data from Thomson-Reuters subsidiary Refinitiv showed.

Soft wheat exports to destinations outside the European Union totalled 1.17 million tonnes last month, an initial estimate based on Refinitiv loading data showed.

That was the highest for June since 2015-16, although it was well below levels seen in previous months this season.

Last month’s exports took the amount of soft wheat shipped to non-EU destinations in the 2019-20 July-June season to 13.42 million tonnes, the highest annual volume seen in Refinitiv data going back to 2009-10.

The estimated total for the season is close to farming agency FranceAgriMer’s forecast for 2019-20 French exports of 13.45 million tonnes, also a record level, according to the agency’s data.

China remained a major outlet for French soft wheat in June, with 134,338 tonnes exported, the data showed.

North Africa was still the largest importing zone for French soft wheat, with initial June estimates of exports to Algeria at 517,000 tonnes and exports to Morocco reaching 93,000 tonnes.

Including a small amount shipped by sea to other EU countries, 1.21 million tonnes of soft wheat were dispatched from French ports last month, also the highest for June since 2015-16.

Most French grain exported inside the EU is transported by non-maritime routes, such as road, rail or waterways.

Total grain shipments from French ports in June ­­— including animal feed barley, malting barley, maize, waxy maize and durum wheat — similarly reached a five-year high for the month at 1.64 million tonnes.

French feed barley exports reached 235,000 tonnes last month, the highest for June in the Refinitiv data going back to 2009-10, with almost all for China, with 229,000 tonnes shipped.