PARIS: Farm office FranceAgriMer on Wednesday lowered its forecast of French soft wheat exports in the current 2020/21 season as it factored in downward revisions to a weather-hit harvest.

In its latest supply and demand forecasts, FranceAgriMer pegged French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season at 6.6 million tonnes, down from an initial projection of 7.75 million in July and now 51% below a record 13.46 million tonnes in 2019/20.

Like other forecasters, FranceAgriMer has been anticipating a steep drop in exports in 2020/21 after France's wheat crop fell by around a quarter this year due to adverse weather.

The office factored in the French farm ministry's estimate of France's 2020 soft wheat crop that has been lowered to 29.5 million tonnes since an initial forecast of 31.3 million in July.

France would ship between 1.5 and 2.5 million tonnes to Algeria, sharply below at least 5 million tonnes in previous years, also due to an expected change in import tender terms that would open the door to Black Sea origins, Thierry de Boussac, a representative of French grain exporters group Synacomex said.