* Netherlands displaces Spain as top customer for UK wheat
* Wheat exports rise 9 percent in 2010/11 season
* Russian export ban opens new markets for UK wheat (Adds details, background)
LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – UK wheat exports rebounded in June to end the 2010/11 season nine percent above the prior marketing year, customs data showed on Tuesday.
Shipments in June totalled 126,816 tonnes, up from 75,188 tonnes in May, the season’s lowest monthly total.
Exports for the 2010/11 season, which concluded at the end of June, rose nine percent to 2.65 million tonnes.
The Netherlands was the most important customer, taking 42,774 tonnes for a cumulative total for the 2010/11 season of 663,169 tonnes, sharply up from 258,827 tonnes a year earlier.
Spain, which has been the main buyer of UK wheat in recent years, took just 13,609 tonnes for a cumulative total of 583,574 tonnes, less than half the 1.26 million tonnes shipped in the 2009/10 season.
Exports to customers outside the European Union totalled 6,426 tonnes in June with most of the wheat going to either Morocco or Norway. For the 2010/11 season, exports to non-EU destinations almost doubled to 300,351 tonnes from 150,666 tonnes a year earlier.
A drought in Russia helped to open up many new markets for British wheat in the 2010/11 season and customers have included Algeria, Thailand, Tunisia and Vietnam, none of which bought UK grain in 2009/10. (Reporting by Nigel Hunt; editing by James Jukwey)
http://af.reuters.com/article/moroccoNews/idAFL5E7JG1KF20110816
