Spain and Portugal keep maize flow from the US going

The flow of maize from the United States continues due to the maize hunger in Spain and Portugal. Netherlands imported maize from the US two weeks ago as well, but the largest quantities this year come from Brazil and Ukraine into our country. The US has now supplied more than 2.1 million tonnes of maize to the European Union. Of that, 1.3 million tonnes were delivered to Spain and more than 550,000 tonnes to Portugal. Ireland and Italy follow next with about 120,000 to 130,000 tonnes. The Netherlands is the fifth largest EU customer of the US with a little 25,000 tons that was mainly imported two weeks ago. The United States is a much larger supplier of maize to the EU this year than a year ago. This is mainly because Ukraine had much less maize available for export in recent months and because free exports from the country to the EU have been restricted. In 2024, EU member states purchased a total of 1.3 million tonnes of maize from the US from July 1 to the first week of December. This year, the quantity in the same period is 60% larger. Meanwhile, total maize imports this year are still far behind last year. By early December 2024, 9.1 million tonnes had been imported, this year it is 7.1 million tonnes. Brazil largest supplier Brazil is the main maize supplier in the EU this season with 2.9 million tonnes so far, but the US is narrowing the gap weekly. Since the end of October, almost no maize has been coming from Brazil to the EU. The US and now also Ukraine have taken over the baton. With the arrival of the new harvest, imports from Ukraine have resumed. Weekly, 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of maize are now entering the EU from Ukraine. Italy is the largest buyer of Ukrainian maize, but the Netherlands has also brought in a decent amount from this country in November. In total, Ukraine has now supplied 1.6 million tonnes of maize to the EU this season, last year it was 5 million tonnes in the same period, of which 1.4 million tonnes to Spain, 1 million tonnes to Italy, and 1.2 million tonnes to the Netherlands.