January 25, 2005

Australia AWB wheat crop estimates at 20 - 22 million tons

Australian grain company AWB Ltd. (AWB) is holding unchanged a production estimate for the new wheat crop in a range of 20 million to 22 million metric tons, Ryan McKinlay, a company spokesman, said Tuesday.

AWB manages a bulk wheat export monopoly from Australia.

Harvesting of the crop is all but finished, he said, with only some late crops mostly in western areas of Victoria state still being stripped. Quality has been reported as "generally good".

With a domestic market of around 6 million tons, growers likely will have delivered between 14 million and 16 million tons to AWB for collective sales through its export pools.

McKinlay wouldn't disclose the exact figure, however.

AWB's production estimate is broadly in line with other recent forecasts, including an early January production estimate of 20.5 million tons by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) local attache.

The USDA Jan. 12 estimated new crop production in Australia at 21.5 million tons.

Actual output last crop year ended March 31, 2004, was a record 26.2 million tons, according to the USDA.