June 16, 2005

Canada's wheat industry expects lower exports
 

The Canadian wheat industry expects lower wheat exports for the 2004-05 marketing year, which ends July 31. This is due to reluctance by farmers to commit their wheat for delivery as they look for higher prices, according to industry feedback. Also, weather-related seeding delays in some western Canadian regions caused slower deliveries.

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) had forecast in November last year that it would export 16.3 million tonnes of grain, a spokesperson said. The CWB would release its final export results for 2004-05 at a news conference in early August.

Canada's second-largest grain company, Saskpool, reported that CWB has revised its export forecast to between 15.2 million and 15.4 million tonnes.

According to Canadian Grain Commission data, Canada had exported a total of 8.3 million tonnes of wheat between Aug. 1 and April 30, including eastern Canadian grain which is outside the CWB's export monopoly.

Canada normally harvests high-quality, high-protein wheat, but unfavourable weather conditions left farmers with significantly higher levels of low-quality and feed wheat last autumn. This in turn led them to seek higher prices for such wheat resulting in delivery delays.