February 22, 2013

Australia revises estimates for wheat production

Australia has increased its wheat output estimate for the present marketing year by a fraction from its December estimate.

The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecast wheat production of 22.077 million tonnes for the marketing year ending in August, up 0.2% from its December estimate of 22.035 million tonnes.

The broadly unchanged forecast will be welcomed after the USDA surprised the market by cutting it forecast for US wheat stocks, adding to worries about a global shortage.

Australia's wheat crop enjoyed favourable weather toward the end of the growing cycle, but the government's commodity forecaster said protein levels across the country's east coast were lower than average.