World Grain - December 2017 - 24

COUNTRY FOCUS

"It's the highest yield we've had for many years," he said,
noting that 71% of France's durum crop is exported and the
average protein is 14.8%.

E.U. leading wheat producers, 2015
(in 1,000 tonnes)

50,000

OILSEEDS

40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0

France

Germany

Turkey

U.K.

Poland

E.U. leading corn producers, 2015
(in 1,000 tonnes)

15,000
12,000
9,000
6,000
3,000
0

France

Romania

Italy

Hungary

Turkey

Source: Eurostat

"About 46% of the crop in France is used in the domestic market," he said. "We export to north Africa. Our main market
for the moment is Algeria."
France exports to other E.U. countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, as well as to North Africa, subSaharan and Western Africa, the Middle East and Cuba.
"We have, this year, high protein content and high yield
which is new," he said, explaining that in the past there
has always been a trade-off. "Protein content on average is
12.3%, and 65% of the crop is over 12%.
"For protein, you have to get the farmers to get protein. We
had, this year, a lot of farmers who changed their practices."
Bonuses for higher protein had stimulated the use of more
nitrogen.
"New tools, like new varieties, are coming but they are not
coming in one year," he said. "The falling number is not an
issue. This grain has a high baking value. On average W is
over 196. This protein is good quality protein."
Then he turned to durum, forecasting production at 2.16
PLOOLRQWRQQHVWKHKLJKHVWOHYHOIRU¿YH\HDUV+HIRUHFDVW
yield at 5.7 tonnes per hectare.
24

France is also a major producer and exporter of oilseeds,
QRWDEO\UDSHVHHGDQGVXQÀRZHUEXWDOVRVR\)UDQFH$JUL0HU
forecasts the total 2017-18 rapeseed harvest at 5.257 million
tonnes, compared with 4.643 million the year before. It puts
2017-18 imports at 850,000 tonnes, down from 1.283 million the year before and exports are 1.55 million tonnes, up
from 1.376 million the previous year.
)UDQFH¶VVXQÀRZHUFURSLQZLOOWRWDOPLOlion tonnes, up from 1.066 million the year before, with
imports at 510,000 versus 513,000 the year before. Exports
were left unchanged at 317,000 tonnes.
Soy production in 2017-18 is forecast at 317,000 tonnes,
up from 272,000 the year before, with imports at 770,000
tonnes, down from 907,000, and exports at 135,000 tonnes,
up from 86,000.
A Competitor Report prepared by the U.K.'s Agricultural
DQG+RUWLFXOWXUDO'HYHORSPHQW%RDUGH[SODLQVWKDW)UHQFK
wheat production is concentrated in the northern half of the
country.
"The regions of Picardie, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne,
+DXWH1RUPDQGLH DQG 1RUG3DVGH&DODLV DFFRXQW IRU D
little over half of the French production, with 51% of the
harvest," it said. "The Champagne-Ardenne, located in the
northeast, is France's leading producer of barley."
France's main grain export ports are Rouen, followed
by La Rochelle. Rouen in the northwest of France, which,
DFFRUGLQJWR+$523$WKHJURXSRISRUWVRIZKLFKLWLVD
member, exported 9.1 million tonnes of grain in 2015-16.
The total included 6.43 million tonnes of wheat and 2.374
million tonnes of barley.
The biggest destinations for grain exported through Rouen
included Algeria, which took 3.5 million tonnes, Morocco,
at 2.1 million, and China, at 1.2 million.
La Rochelle in the west on France's Atlantic seaboard exported 4.3 million tonnes of grain in 2014.
FLOUR MILLING

According to the European Flour Millers, there were 439
mills in France in 2015 of which 34 have a production capacity greater than 50,000 tonnes (wheat equivalent) a year.
Average capacity usage is 65%. According to Association Nationale de la Meunerie Française (ANMF), the
millers' association, the industry produced 4.12 million
tonnes of flour in 2016, of which 393,481 tonnes were
for export.
$10)FLWLQJ¿JXUHVVDLGWKHUHDUHEXVLQHVVHV
with 427 production units in the milling sector. Four of those
FRPSDQLHV 1XWUL[R 0RXOLQV 6RXIÀHW$5,$1( 0HXQHULH
December 2017 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - December 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - December 2017