Brussels, 18/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 February, France will demand the European Commission to take “necessary measures to assist the cereals market, currently experiencing difficulties”. The French delegation will tackle the subject during the Agriculture Council, on the “general points” part of the agenda. France is particularly concerned about the fall in exports over the past year.
Abundant European harvest - for a second year running. This abundance is, according to France, affecting prices, which are now likely to threaten the viability of many cereal producers. France also explains that the predicted end of season stocks are particularly “heavy”, especially for wheat and barley, given that it is expected that in France alone, there will be a stock of 4,000,000 tonnes each for these two cereals.
Significant intervention action has occurred for barley and is expected to continue over the next few weeks until storage offered in other member states is saturated, explained the French authorities.
Wheat exports down compared to those of the last season, given that gross figures hardly stand at 10.7 million tonnes in certificates for the current season issued so far at a Community level, as opposed to 13.1 million tonnes for the same period last year. Figures for barley are static, with hardly 0.45 million tonnes in certificates issued so far at a Community level, as opposed to 3.0 million for the same period last year. (L.C./transl.fl)