French wheat exports to gain from Russia supply drop.

Byline: S. Kamal Hayder Kazmi

A brisk start to France's wheat export season and less competition from Russian supplies led farming agency FranceAgriMer to raise its forecast for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union in 2018/19. FranceAgriMer pegged French soft wheat exports to non-EU destinations at 8.75 million tonnes, up from its initial outlook of 8.5 million in September and well above 8.1 million in 2017/18.

Exports outside the EU in the first three months of the season that began on July 1 were 24 percent above the year-earlier volume, the agency said. Traders are more cautious about French exports this season after a lull in the past month. French exporters group...