France Loading Rare Wheat Shipment for China

A vessel was loading wheat for export to China at the northern French port of Dunkirk on Monday, according to shipping sources and data, in what would be the first such shipment since last year.

The Sotka bulk carrier was due to load around 57,000 tonnes of grain destined for the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, port data showed.

The cereal being loaded was wheat, shipping sources said.

France has in recent years exported large volumes of barley to China but wheat shipments to China are rare.

The current loading would be the first since late 2018, which was at the time the first French wheat shipment to China in almost five years.

France, the European Union's biggest grain producer, has just finished harvesting its 2019 wheat crop which is estimated to be one of the country's biggest-ever.

(Reporting by Valerie Parent and Gus Trompiz)