Farm office FranceAgriMer left unchanged its outlook for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season, surprising some traders, as diminished prospects in top importer Egypt were offset by strong demand from Algeria and Morocco. France, the EU's biggest wheat exporter, was still expected to ship 11.5 million tonnes of the cereal outside the bloc in the 2013/14 season to June 30, a 16 percent rise compared with 2012/13, FranceAgriMer said on Wednesday. Many traders had anticipated a cut to the export forecast after Egypt's decision last month to tighten a rule on moisture content, seen as penalising French wheat. In Algeria, the absence of Argentine competition this season had reinforced France's position in its top wheat export market, while in Morocco the suspension of soft wheat import duties between January and April had triggered a surge in shipments, Olivia Le Lamer, head of FranceAgriMer's grains unit, said. By Feb. 10, France had shipped nearly 970,000 tonnes of wheat to Morocco and 3.35 million to Algeria, data compiled by Reuters showed. This compared with 542,000 tonnes shipped to Morocco and 2.3 million to Algeria by the start of February last season, according to customs records. "This Algerian and Moroccan demand could compensate for what we won't be able to do in Egypt," Le Lamer told reporters. Trade expectations for French wheat exports to Egypt in 2013/14 were now around 800,000 tonnes, below a previous consensus of 1.2 million and compared with the 660,000 tonnes already sold, she said. Egyptian state buyer GASC has lowered its limit on wheat moisture to 13 percent, after previously accepting up to 13.5 percent, which was the average level in the last French harvest. "The 13 percent doesn't close off the Egyptian market to French wheat, it makes things more complicated and costly," Le Lamer added. FranceAgriMer raised its estimate of French soft wheat stocks at the end of 2013/14 to 2.85 million tonnes from 2.68 million last month, reflecting a cut to exports within the EU to 6.8 million tonnes from 7.0 million. Stocks would now be close to last year's 2.9 million tonnes. FranceAgriMer cut its forecast of maize (corn) ending stocks to 2.8 million tonnes from 2.9 million last month, as it lowered its estimate of the 2013 harvest to 14.6 million tonnes from 14.8 million to move closer to the trade consensus. The office also cut by 100,000 tonne its estimate for maize demand from animal-feed makers this season to 3.6 million tonnes, reflecting the smaller crop, late arrival of a rain-hit harvest and general weakness in the French livestock sector. Total demand from feed makers for maize, wheat and barley was now estimated at 9.1 million tonnes this season, its lowest level since 1996/97, Le Lamer said. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/94181.aspx
