PARIS, Jan 5: The European Union on Thursday raised the level of its wheat export subsidies to a maximum of 8.49 euros per ton from 8.00 euros in December, and also increased the volume of grain covered.

Official data showed the EU’s grain management committee granted licences for a total of 356,000 tons of free-market wheat for export to the world market.

At the meeting on December 22, the total was 194,000 tons.

French wheat futures were little changed by the news, the front month closing unchanged at 109.00 and March off 0.25 euros at 110.25 euros. The market had been dampened by news earlier that Egypt had chosen Australian and Russian wheat at a tender, snubbing offers from other exporters.

The EU panel also granted export subsidies on free-market barley, giving up to nearly three euros on 7,000 tons.

The panel also sold 36,000 tons of wheat held in the bloc’s intervention stores for export, most from France, and nearly 50,000 tons of barley, mostly from German stores.

And just over 55,000 tons of grain held in stores around the bloc was transferred to Spain under a measure designed to help it combat the effects of last year’s drought.

The panel also awarded 37,000 tons of cut-levy maize imports into Spain at a reduced duty of up to 19.19 euros.

For the first award under this season’s wheat import quota, the committee awarded the full amount available under the quarterly tranche at 592,900 tons.

There was a large number of bids for the licences, forcing the Commission to distribute them with a reduction co-efficient of 5.6 per cent.—Reuters