PARIS, FRANCE — For the second month in a row, FranceAgriMer has increased its forecast of French soft wheat exports outside the EU in 2020-21, Reuters reported.

In its monthly supply and demand data, it projected soft wheat exports outside of the EU and Britain at 6.85 milion tonnes, up from 6.7 million tonnes in the previous month.

Exports would still be 49% below a record 13.46 million tonnes estimated for the 2019-20 season, Reuters said. The sharp drop is due to adverse weather.

China has been an active buyer in the first half of the season, but it remains to be seen what sales will be like in the future, Marion Duval, head of FranceAgriMer’s grain unit told Reuters.

France has shipped 1 million tonnes of wheat to China since July. Some expect exports to reach 2 million tonnes during the whole season.

Expected soft wheat exports within the EU were trimmed by 80,000 tonnes, while domestic demand from animal feed makers was increased by 100,000 tonnes, FranceAgriMer said.

Those adjustments led FranceAgriMer to reduce forecast soft wheat stocks at the end of 2020-21 to 2.5 million tonnes.

For corn, FranceAgriMer raised its outlook for exports within the EU for the second month in a row. Stocks projection was stable at 2.2 million tonnes due to a reduction in animal feed use and starch demand.