UK wheat exports during July, the first month of the 2010/11 marketing year, were 251,733 tonnes, up 52 percent from 165,636 tonnes in the same month last year, customs data showed on Wednesday. The total included an unusual sale of 58,314 tonnes to Vietnam. The only sale of UK wheat to a customer in Asia during the 2009/10 season was 49,500 tonnes to the Philippines.
Shipments to Spain, Britain's most important customer in recent years, fell slightly to 50,366 tonnes, down from 57,147 tonnes in July 2009. The Netherlands took the largest share of UK wheat with 78,060 tonnes, versus 37,145 tonnes in the same month last year.
Britain's wheat harvest is largely complete with the crop expected to be little changed from the prior season's 14.4 million tonnes and well down from the 2008 record of 17.2 million tonnes, dealers said. The strong start for UK exports mirrors a similar trend in neighbouring France as European Union suppliers help to meet a supply shortfall from drought-hit Russia.