Buckwheat: EU increases imports from Kazakhstan 14-fold

July 31, 2024 at 4:55 PM , Der AUDITOR
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DALIAN/KYIV. Prices are rising on the Chinese market and in Ukraine the wait is on for the first buckwheat crop data. Meanwhile, EU imports rose by around two thirds in July.

Chinese goods are becoming expensive

While there is hardly any domestic produce left on the Chinese buckwheat market, trade is being supported by imports from Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, prices have continued to rise in recent weeks and currently stand at USD 870/mt FOB Dalian for hulled buckwheat, while organic buckwheat is being offered for USD 960/mt FOB.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food has not yet published any data for the 2024/2025 buckwheat crop. However, other grains such as millet, wheat and barley are already being harvested. A total of 100,800 ha are said to have been sown with buckwheat this year and the harvest should not be long in coming.

Buckwheat, China

Hulled

USD/mt

Conventional

870

Organic

960

FOB Dalian

EU imports up by two thirds

In the first month of the 2024/2025 season (July), a total of 860 mt of millet was imported into the EU from third countries, representing a year-on-year increase of 66%. The majority of shipments, 365 mt, came from Kazakhstan (+1,420.8% year-on-year), followed by Ukraine and Russia. The main importers in the EU were Estonia (320 mt), Lithuania (207 mt) and Germany (92 mt).

In the period from September 2023 to May 2024, Germany imported 4,170 mt of buckwheat, 28.6% less than in the same period of the previous year. Although shipments from Poland to Germany almost halved to 1,761 mt, the country remains the most important trading partner for buckwheat deliveries. Imports from Russia also fell by 62.1% to 316 mt. At the same time, however, Germany drastically increased imports from the Czech Republic (+1,663% to 811 mt) and Kazakhstan (+243.2% to 501 mt).

EU buckwheat imports, in mt

Supplier

2023/24

2024/25

Diff.

Kazakhstan

24

365

1420.8%

Ukraine

0

238

n/a

Russia

312

131

-58.0%

China

156

125

-19.9%

Others

26

1

-96.2%

Total

518

860

66.0%

DG AGRI TAXUD Customs Surveillance System, 01/07-29/07

10081000 Buckwheat

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