U.K. wheat sales jumped to the highest in four years, due to a slumping pound as the country approaches a vote on whether to leave the European Union.
British wheat exports climbed to almost 310,000 metric tons in January, the highest for any month since December 2011, customs data show. The pound fell to the weakest in more than a year on mounting concern about the so-called ‘Brexit’ vote in June.
That’s making British export products, like grain, more competitive to overseas buyers.
The U.K. has been left with a lot of wheat to export after two successive bumper harvests, exacerbating a global glut of grain which helped send wheat prices to five-year lows recently in the U.S.A, France and Russia.
Most of the U.K.’s wheat exports in January were destined for EU countries, with more than 175,000 tons shipping to Spain, according to the data distributed Tuesday by the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board.
Even France, which is the EU’s biggest wheat grower and exporter, was a customer, with the U.K. shipping almost 30,000 tons there.