PARIS: Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2022/23 season that started in July had reached 19.05 million tonnes by Feb 5, up nearly 7% from 17.85 million by the same week in 2021/22, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

EU barley exports so far in 2022/23 totalled 3.16 million tonnes, down 40% from 5.28 million a year ago, while EU maize imports were at 16.69 million tonnes, 69% above the year-earlier total of 9.87 million.

However, the Commission said that it was still experiencing problems compiling grain trade figures from Germany and Italy.

Export data submitted by Germany from November may be inaccurate following the country’s switch to a new declaration system, while for Italy import data was available only until the end of November, it said in a note. Germany is one of the EU’s largest cereal exporting members and Italy among the bloc’s major cereal importers.

A breakdown of the EU data showed France remained by far the biggest EU soft wheat exporter this season, with 7.79 million tonnes shipped, followed by Romania with 2.28 million, Germany with 2.15 million, Latvia with 1.71 million and Lithuania with 1.61 million.