French wheat is being sold to Thailand, Russian grain to Peru and UK wheat to the Philippines as merchants step up efforts to shift wheat ahead of the arrival of the next harvest.

Loading of a 50,000-tonne cargo of British feed wheat, the biggest ever for grain handled at the northern Humber International port, was due to be completed today for shipping to the Philippines.

The wheat was the first sold from the UK to the Asia this crop year, which started in July, according to customs data to the end of January.

Separately, Russian wheat was reported to have been sold to Peru and Venezuela, the backyard of Canadian and US exporters, while French grain, which typically relies on North Africa for import interest, is on its way to Thailand.

'Needs must' 

"The trade map is changing. It's a case of 'needs must' when there is so much inventory left to shift," a London trader told Agrimoney.com.

"What we do not always know is the price, and what kind of deals are being done to get grain out of the way."

Merchants last week sold French wheat at some $10 below costs, including freight, in the hope of buying it back cheaper in the future, according to Glencore's UK grain arm.

Jonathan Lane at Gleadell, the rival merchant, told Agrimoney.com: "The French have lost lots of exports to North Africa. They need to get rid of wheat. They have wheat coming out of every orifice."

Bargain basement 

Mr Lane added that the Humber shipment, which was organised by Gleadell, had been "fortuitous" after Toepfer, one of the merchant's shareholders, struggled to source grain from the Black Sea as it had hoped.

"The Black Sea exporters have done pretty well at getting rid of their feed wheat," he said.

"They have got milling wheat left, but they are not prepared to sell that at feed wheat prices yet."

UK wheat is selling at $5-10 a tonne below Black Sea feed wheat, with Danish grain also competitive, he added.