Italy, the world's largest pasta consumer, can't abandon the North American wheat used to make spaghetti and macaroni, after smaller plantings and foul weather curbed output in the European Union.

Exports of durum wheat by the U.S. and Canada are booming, foiling efforts by Italy to protect its farmers by adopting country-of-origin labelling rules in 2017, effectively lessening imports. EU production of the wheat variety for the season that began in July fell 10 per cent to 7.78 million tons, European Commission data show, triggering demand for North American supplies.