2024-10-16 22:04:00
Grow more durum wheat in France! This appeal to French farmers is launched by pasta and semolina producers. They are worried: in France the surface area has been halved in 15 years and this year the durum wheat harvest is declining like that of its soft wheat cousin, used to produce flour.
All the pasta produced in France, but also the semolina used to prepare couscous, uses French durum wheat, this is the commitment made by French producers. But the price of cereals must remain economically acceptable and the quantities must be there: pastry and semolina producers consume around 650,000 tonnes of durum wheat every year.
As sowing approaches, the CEO of Panzani, also president of the Union of Industrial Pasta Producers France (SIFPAF), therefore deemed it appropriate to renew the promises made to the sector. He hopes that they will be enough to reassure farmers and push them to increase their surfaces, since in 2025 they will still be guaranteed to have buyers.
2024 harvest declining
The bosses of the sector dream of a secure supply of blue-white-red durum wheat and a better year than the last one. Areas did not decrease between 2023 and 2024, but climate risks reduced returns.
The latest data show a decline in the durum wheat harvest of 8% – or 1,147,000 tonnes, compared to 1,250,000 tonnes the previous year – with “smaller and less whole grains” according to SIFPAF: consequently, to produce You need 10% more wheat than the same amount of pasta.
Read alsoFrance: towards an exceptionally low annual wheat harvest
Durum wheat prices are falling
This obviously means additional costs that are not suitable for producers who also have to deal with competitors: 65% of the pasta sold in France is imported and produced with durum wheat purchased on the international market where prices have increased compared to last year. And this above all thanks to a good harvest by the main exporter, the Canada. The country is expected to export 40% more, or 5.08 million tonnes, this year, data shows International Grains Council.
In this context of competition and climate change, French producers today say they are getting closer “ critical threshold “. If harvested volumes do not recover, the competitiveness of shells and semolina produced in France could suffer.
Read alsoThe global wheat market has reassured itself despite European losses
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