According to sources in the shipping and trading industries, a large shipment of French wheat will be loaded for Thailand later this month. This is a rare shipment that will help boost French exports to Southeast Asia.

Sources said that a ship will call this week at the northern river port Rouen to load a part of the planned volume between 60,000 to 70,000 metric tonnes. The vessel is expected to finish loading at the port on the west coast of La Pallice.

They added that the wheat would be used for animal feed.

LSEG shipping statistics showed that this shipment would be the first French wheat to reach the Thai market in 2016.

After months of heavy rainfall, France, the largest wheat producer in the European Union, harvested its lowest crop in 40-years this summer in northern hemisphere, leading forecasters predict a drop in exports.

French wheat exports to countries outside the European Union have dried up in recent weeks, after they had a large volume last July when firms used stocks from their previous crop.

Some are worried that France's exports will not be able to quickly clear the surplus.

This season, exports of feed wheat could be possible due to the low test weights that were left by the torrential rainfall and lack of sunshine which hurt yields.

A second shipment of feed grain for Thailand could follow in the next few weeks. Sources said that a larger wave of sales is not expected at this time, as suppliers are believed to have taken advantage during the brief window of competitive French prices in late summer before a September recovery.

According to trading sources, the French export prospects were also hampered by the exclusion last week of French firms and their supplies from an Algerian bid. This was a result of apparent diplomatic tensions.

(source: Reuters)