March 29, 2012

UK wheat stocks to beat estimate

The wheat supplies of the UK will be 3.2% higher at the end of June than the estimate in January on declining animal and human usage of the grain, the Home- Grown Cereals Authority said.

Inventories will total 2.62 million tonnes, the authority said in a report. That's after consumption or exports of 15 million tonnes from 17.7 million tonnes of available wheat, it said, citing government figures. Use will fall 0.5% from January's estimate to 6.45 million tonnes for animal feed and drop 0.7% to 6.85 million tonnes for human and industrial consumption, it said.

"Lower cattle numbers combined with a particularly mild winter are responsible for declines in total compound feed demand," the Kenilworth, England-based authority said. "For wheat, these downward trends are offset by further switching to wheat from barley in rations."

Total cereal stockpiles were forecast 4% higher at 3.4 million tonnes, according to the report. Grain availability will total 26 million tonnes, little changed from the January estimate. Consumption will fall 0.5% and imports are expected to rise 1.2%, the authority said. The UK is the EU's third-biggest wheat producer.