Getreide Cockpit, 08.02.2019

(AMI) - In its current monthly assessment, the EU Commission cuts the export estimate for EU wheat by 2 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes. This is not as much as since 2014/15 anymore. The trigger for this significant correction is the sluggish export figures from the weekly reporting. In the current season, 9.4 million tonnes of common wheat were marketed to third countries, 26% less than in the same period of the previous year. Should this weak result continue in the coming months, soft wheat exports should not even reach the 16 million t mark. Since an alternative outlet valve is missing, the non-exported 2 million tonnes remain in storage and increase final stocks to 13.2 million tonnes. But that is still 4 million t less than in 2017/18. At the same time, the burgeoning corn imports also led to a correction, but upwards. For the 2018/19 marketing year, the EU Commission now forecasts third-country imports to be 20 million tonnes, 1.5 million tonnes higher than in the previous month. This would exceed the previous year's volume by 2.2 million tonnes.In addition to the actually much brisker imports, which were already 45% above the previous year's level at the beginning of February and thus resulted in a correction, it is above all the extensive corn consumption in the compound feed which requires just these additional quantities. At the same time, Brussels estimates the use of grain maize in EU feed to be 64 million tonnes. That is almost 7 million t more than in 2017/18.