HAMBURG (Reuters) — The European Union will bring in a good quality harvest, bigger than last year’s crop, despite fears dramatic weather swings had damaged plants, observers said on Wednesday.
“Wheat had to face a very long winter, a wet spring and then a blasting hot and dry summer start,” one trader said. “But harvest sizes are good and quality is decent, apart from in Britain, which should give EU good supplies in coming months for both domestic use and export.”
The EU will harvest 134.6 million tonnes of wheat in 2013, up from 125.7 million tonnes last year, Germany’s largest grain trade house Toepfer International forecasts.
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In the EU’s largest wheat producer France, the harvest is almost over with a bigger-than-expected crop and better quality gathered, despite hard winter and spring weather.
Warm and dry weather in early summer boosted growth of crops which had endured damp, cool conditions earlier in the season.
“There are of course a few disappointments but when taking into account the weather conditions, results are better and sometimes much better than anticipated,” a dealer said.
Official estimates are for a French crop above 36 million tonnes against 35.6 million tonnes last year. But analysts expect a crop between 37-37.5 million tonnes.
Some poor protein readings in initial harvesting on the west coast, pegged at around 10.8 percent in the region near the port of La Pallice, last month had raised fears France would struggle to meet export requirements of at least 11 percent protein, but better results further north have since eased such concerns.
The EU’s second largest producer Germany will harvest 24.18 million tonnes this year, up from the 22.33 million tonnes harvested in 2012, Toepfer said on Wednesday.
“Very fast progress has been made with the harvesting this week and with dry weather forecast up to the weekend the final areas of wheat in the north and east should be gathered in the next few days,” one German trader said.
“Quality is overall decent and reaching export standards despite earlier worries about weather damage.”
BRITAIN LAGS
In the third largest producer Britain, the harvest is well underway, with traders estimating over one third has been cut, although lagging progress of past years.
The UK is expected to reap its smallest crop in a decade after wet weather hindered plantings. Traders forecast the crop at around 12 million tonnes compared with 13.3 million tonnes last year.
“It is still one of the slowest of recent harvests, mostly because of the late start,” said analyst Charlotte Garbutt of Britain’s Home-Grown Cereals Authority.
Garbutt said yields were close to the five-year average of 7.7 tonnes per hectare, with the current range between 7.6 and 7.8 tonnes.
In the fourth largest producer Poland, dry weather permitted rapid harvest progress and only about 5 percent remains to be cut, said Regis Miola, director of consultants ODA Polska. Good weather currently forecast could mean work is finished by the end of this week, he said.
He forecast Poland’s crop at “a little above” 9 million tonnes against 8.6 million tonnes last year.
Grain quality in general is good but there is uncertainty about the quality of the last grain to be harvested in north Poland, he said.
Crops are also good in smaller east EU producers which are often aggressive players in export markets.
Romania will harvest 7.44 million tonnes, sharply up from 5.75 million tonnes last year, Toepfer forecasts.
Hungary’s will rise to 4.93 million tonnes from 3.94 million and Bulgaria’s to 4.95 million tonnes from 4.56 million tonnes, Toepfer estimates.
