September 21, 2010
Australia's wheat producers see export bonanza
Wheat producers in Australia are looking at an AUD5 billion-plus (US$4.7 billion) export bonanza in the next year as near-record crops and strong prices fuel a bumper season.
Rapeseed producers are also looking at a rosy year, while most livestock prices are set to rise as well. These are some of the main features of the latest quarterly commodity forecasts by the Australian Bureau of Australian and Resource Economics (Abare).
Abare said farm exports were set to jump 10% to AUD31.4 billion (US$29.7 billion) in 2010-11, almost reversing the 11% decline last year. Farm cash incomes are expected to swell by a further 21% to AUD13.3 billion (US$12.6 billion) after a big recovery in the past year.
The stand-out contributor will be wheat, where a near-record crop of 25.1 million tonnes is expected to underpin a strong 32% surge in exports to 18.2 million tonnes, Abare said.
With pool prices also set to jump 30% to an average of AUD319 (US$302) a tonne, which will help push export returns up a whopping 41% to AUD5.2 billion (US$4.9 billion).
The forecast for rapeseed is not quite so upbeat, but still solid - a 17% production increase and 27% jump in exports, with just a 2% rise in prices.
In the livestock sector, beef farmers can expect a healthy 4.5% lift in saleyard prices. Beef exports are also expected to jump 10% to AUD4.4 billion (US$4.2 billion).
