June 22, 2007

Northeast Brazil buys 80,000 tonnes of wheat from Canada

Wheat millers in the northeast Brazilian state of Ceara imported 80,000 metric tonnes of Canadian wheat recently to keep up with local demand with shipments due this month, reports business daily Gazeta Mercantil.

The last time Brazil imported Canadian wheat was in 2005-06, when roughly 71,000 tonnes were purchased, the newspaper reported.

Canadian wheat imports cost about 30 percent more, or between US$302 and US$310 per tonne.

Ceara state is Brazil's third wheat milling producer behind Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states.

Brazil will import roughly 7 million tonnes of wheat this year to meet local demand of around 10.5 million tonnes. Brazil's wheat stocks are "next to nothing", traders said last week, and winter wheat production is currently estimated at 4 million tonnes.