Rain in the fall slowed planting while spring drought reduced soft wheat yields. The harvest is estimated at 29.22 million tonnes, down from 39.5 million tonnes last year.

Soft wheat exports are expected to drop to 13 million tonnes, down from 20.9 million tonnes. Of that total, France is estimated to ship 6.3 million tonnes outside of the EU and Britain, down from 13.5 million tonnes in 2019-20.

China likely will remain a large export market for French wheat at 1.15 million tonnes, in part due to trade disputes, Reuters said.

Exports to Algeria, which is France’s largest export market, are expected to drop sharply from 5.6 million tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes. This is due to competition from Baltic countries, Poland, Sweden and Germany.

Agritel said it expects no sales of French wheat to Egypt, one of the world’s largest importers. Egypt is expected to mostly import from Russia and Ukraine this season.