Strong Finish to France's Pea Export Program

VANCOUVER - Aug 16/07 - SNS -- France finished its 2006-07 field pea export season on a strong note, with shipments narrowing the gap between it and the previous marketing year.

Data from the Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Plantes Riches en Proteines (UNIP) revealed exporters shipped 48,585 metric tons (MT) of peas in June, up from 41,700 MT in May and double the 24,910 MT of field peas shipped the same month last year.

This lifted preliminary export totals for the 2006-07 marketing year to 442,220 MT, down 1.1% from the 447,160 MT shipped the previous marketing year; and 20.6% below the 557,225 MT exported in 2004-05.

Sales to the Indian subcontinent made the difference for exporters at season's end; with Bangladesh taking 25,310 MT in June and India taking 24,619 MT in May. This boosted the percentage of field peas shopped to non-European destinations to 43.5% of all exports, up from 19% in 2005-06 and 13.8% in 2004-05. Demand from non-European buyers was still below the 2001-02 and 2002-03 marketing years; when they consumed 59.2% and 68.2% of all exports.

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