The European Union this week granted export licences for 454,000 tonnes of wheat, taking the total since the beginning of the July/June 2008/2009 season to 18.4 million tonnes, official data showed on Thursday. Last season, when the 27-member bloc harvested a much smaller crop, wheat exports totalled only 7.4 million tonnes at the same stage.
The EU also granted this week licences to export 83,000 tonnes of durum, putting the total so far this season at 1.4 million tonnes, up from 633,000 a year ago. Overall, the European Union has granted licences to export 26.2 million tonnes of grains so far this season against 15.7 million a year ago. Total grain imports cleared so far have reached 10 million tonnes, less than half the 23.7 million in the year-ago period.