PARIS: Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2020/21 season that started last July had reached 15.81 million tonnes by Feb. 7, data published by the European Commission showed on Monday.

That was down from 18.86 million tonnes cleared by the same week last season, the data showed.

Since Jan. 1, the European Comission's data has covered the EU's 27 countries only, whereas previous figures up to Dec. 31 covered both the EU-27 and Britain.

The change reflects Britain's departure from the EU's customs union at the end of December, following its formal exit from the bloc in early 2020.

EU 2020/21 barley exports had reached 4.43 million tonnes, down from 4.74 million a year ago, while EU 2020/21 maize imports stood at 10.0 million tonnes, down from 13.74 million.