By Rudy Ruitenberg
Grain exports from France’s Rouen port, Europe’s biggest cereal-shipping hub, jumped 53 percent in the week through yesterday, boosted by the biggest wheat shipments to North Africa since the last week of March 2011.
Outbound grain shipments were 222,038 metric tons between March 1 and March 7 from 145,570 tons a week earlier, the Seine River port said in an e-mailed report today. Exports included 217,010 tons of soft wheat.
Algeria was the biggest export destination, taking 132,760 tons of soft wheat, the most since September, while Morocco was the destination for 60,500 tons of the grain and Tunisia took 23,750 tons, the first shipments since June.
Rouen accounted for 45 percent of France’s maritime grain exports in 2009-10, ahead of La Pallice on the Bay of Biscay, which shipped out 19 percent, according to figures from national crops office FranceAgriMer.
Rouen grain loadings by destination, in metric tons:
March 1-7 Soft wheat Algeria 132,760 Morocco 60,500 Tunisia 23,750 Durum wheat U.K. 1,728 Barley Russia 3,300
To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris atrruitenberg
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter atccarpenter2
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