The European Commission is ready to help Spain cope with a severe grain shortage due to drought and is considering its request for an initial transfer of 500,000 tonnes of grain from EU intervention stores, a senior EU official told Reuters on Wednesday.
"There will at least be a symbolic quantity available ... half a million tonnes seems a reasonable request for a country of that size," said Russell Mildon, head of the arable crops unit in the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. "If we say 'yes', it will be for half a million tonnes," he said, adding that the proposal would most likely be considered at next week's EU cereals management committee meeting.
Mildon was speaking on the sidelines of the International Grains Council (IGC) annual conference in London. "We need to be careful not to allow a speculative element to drive up prices or see a scramble for supplies," he added.
Under the intervention system, the EU buys in grain at just over 100 euros a tonne and stores it for resale at a later date.
Commission officials in Brussels said they had yet to see a formal request from Madrid to bring in intervention cereals to help its farmers cope with the worst drought on record.