February 7, 2014

China's wheat imports increased by 50% in 2013. In fact, in December 2013, total imports amounted to 395,200 tonnes, an increase of 5,319% on-year, as compared to 7,290 tonnes in December 2012, according to Citigroup Inc.

The country imported the most wheat from the United States, which totalled 3.8 million tonnes. Canada, which exported 866,000 tonnes to China, stood at second.

Though China is the world's biggest wheat consumer, harvest of the crop in 2013 was lower than previous years due to bad weather in key growing regions, Bloomberg noted. China had relied heavily on imports of raw materials in the past 10 years to fuel its economic growth.

The USDA's forecast shows that world wheat production for the 2013/14 season would hit a new record. China led that increase in January this year, up 1 million tonnes to 122 million.

Meanwhile, USDA said on February 3 that the US winter wheat crop suffered from bitter temperatures, as growers' "snow cover" evaporated.

Russia, China, India, EU and the US are the world's top wheat producers.