Since the end of September, Spain has been buying more corn from the United States than from Brazil, according to import data from the European Commission.
Since the end of September, Spain has imported approximately 850.000 tons of grain maize from the US. Supply from Brazil has more than halved after more than 1 million tons in August and September. This has made the US Spain's main supplier. Imports from South America virtually ground to a halt in November.
Nearly 60% of all corn entering the European Union at the beginning of this month came from the US. This has increased the United States' total share of EU corn imports to over a quarter. Brazil remains the largest supplier for now, accounting for just over half of the total corn shipped to the European Union since July.
Supply from Ukraine is still far behind last year. Last year, Ukraine supplied over 3,7 million tons of corn, while this year imports from that country have so far remained at around 1,1 million tons. Italy (over a third) is the main destination for Ukrainian corn, followed by the Netherlands (22%) and Greece (13%).
Dutch corn imports from third countries have been virtually at a standstill since the end of September. Apart from two larger shipments from Brazil, virtually nothing has been imported from areas outside the European Union. Last week, another shipment of 63.000 tons arrived in the Netherlands from Ukraine. Total Dutch imports from third countries now total 860.000 tons. Last year, the Netherlands imported 1,5 million tons of corn during the same period, of which almost 1,1 million tons came from Ukraine. This year, 250.000 tons will come from that country.