AWB cuts price on 2009-10 wheat

Agribusiness AWB Ltd. Friday cut its estimated pool return on benchmark 2009-10 Australian Premium White grade wheat by A$5 per tonne to a range A$305-A$315 per tonne, free on board.

"The Northern Hemisphere wheat harvest is proceeding apace and buyers are now seeing plenty of wheat available, which is adding to the stocks from last year that are held by many countries," Stuart Richardson, a spokesman for AWB's Australian commodity management unit, said in a statement.

Recent rainfall across much of the Australian wheat belt has give the market some confidence in crop estimates, though the season has a long way to go, he said.

The Australian dollar also continues to be relatively strong against the US dollar, weighing on returns, he said.

AWB is an important exporter of Australia wheat and its estimated return on collective sales are an important guide for the local industry.

Most official and private forecasts for Australian wheat production this year ending March 31, 2010, are in a range of 22 million to 23 million tonnes.

Australia produced 21.4 million tonnes of wheat in the last crop year, which ended March 31. After annual domestic demand of almost seven million tons is met, the balance is available for export, making Australia a major supplier to the global trade.

US$1 = A$1.24817 (Jul 17)