UK wheat imports remain at historically high levels

The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) is confirming that wheat imports into the UK remain at exceptionally high levels.

This trend reflects lower production and quality issues in 2024, as well as a historically higher level of British pound sterling (£) against the euro (€).

A total of 295.1Kt of wheat was imported in November 2024, up 71% on the year and more than double the five-year average pace for November of 127.3Kt.

This takes season to date (July to November) imports to 1.45Mt, the largest volume imported up to November since at least electronic records began in 1995/1996.

For context, in 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, July to November wheat imports totalled 1.03Mt and 1.18Mt respectively.

It is expected that a large proportion of UK wheat imports to date are of milling quality, with 529.5Kt coming in from Germany from July to November and 235Kt from Canada over the same period alone.

While the import pace has been rapid so far this season, it is expected that it will slow during the latter part of the season.

Meanwhile, November 2024 saw maize imports reached 302.7Kt, the highest this season and 17% up on the year.

Total imports into the UK from July to November are now 1.19Mt, the highest since 2020/2021 and 23% above the five-year average.

The pace of maize imports has been encouraged by its relative price and availability earlier in the season, compared with domestic grains.

As might well have been expected, exports of UK grains are lagging behind the pace of last year and the five-year average.

Season-to-date barley exports have totalled 189.3Kt, below last year’s 330.9Kt and the five-year average of 1.1Mt.

For oats, 5.5Kt was exported from July to November, significantly lower than last season’s 57.8Kt and the five-year average of 45.2Kt.

The driver for the current cereal import/export trends can be traced back to the very poor planting conditions that impacted across the UK throughout the autumn of 2023.

In contrast, winter cereal crops planted out last autumn are looking well, for the most part, at the present time.

Tags: UK, Grains, Production, wheat, AHDB, imports, estimates, quality, Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board