The European grain market welcomed an EU decision to restore export refunds for barley but traders said on Friday they were surprised by the timing and unsure whether it foreshadowed similar moves for wheat exports.
The EU grain management committee approved on Thursday the opening of an export tender for up to one million tonnes of free market barley with subsidies to Middle East and North African countries, starting on October 14.
The move comes more than one year after the EU stopped awarding refunds on grain exports outside the 25-member bloc. Thursday's decision was set to help exporters, struggling this year with a big barley crop and facing tough competition on export markets, notably from Ukraine and Russia.
"It's going to do the market a lot of good, it will allow some business as we could not sell our barley," a trader said. French cash market barley was up at least two euros a tonne at 103/104 euros a tonne in morning trade.
Traders said they had not expected the Commission to resume export subsidies on barley so soon.
The European Union has already granted export licences for around three million tonnes of wheat this season, against only 112,000 tonnes of barley.
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