January 13, 2012

The USDA lifted its estimate for 2012 world wheat supplies by 1.5 million tonnes to 210 million tonnes, the second highest in 12 years, citing a bumper Kazakh crop and higher US winter wheat sowings.

"The main [Kazakh] wheat-production region benefited from outstanding weather throughout the growing season," USDA analyst Mark Lindeman said.

At 210 million tonnes, global wheat stocks are set to end the season at their second highest ever, less than 700,000 tonnes behind the record set 12 years ago, and equivalent to a healthy 16 weeks' consumption.

Prospects for the next harvest received a boost from a separate report from USDA, showing US winter wheat plantings up 1.3 million acres to a three-year high of 41.9 million acres.

The rise, some one million acres more than analysts had expected, came despite a dip in sowings of soft red winter wheat, the type traded in Chicago.

Large increases in soft red winter area in most of the Corn Belt were more than offset by a slump of one-third, to 580,000 hectares, in plantings in Ohio, typically the top grower, but where growers were hampered by poor weather.

"In Ohio, record low area was planted due to wet soil conditions during the fall," said Karis Gutter, the acting US agriculture secretary.

Area sown to hard red winter wheat, the main variety grown in the US, rose by some 1.6 million acres to 30.1 million acres.

"Acreage is above last year's level in all states in the hard red winter wheat growing area except California, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota", where a "dry fall limited planting", Gutter added.