March 16, 2005

Canada sells lower-quality wheat to Vietnam

Canada has sold a quantity of lower-quality wheat to Vietnam that will be blended and then used for human consumption, according to Canadian export sources.

The export sources confirmed the reports that surfaced from Singapore overnight that 80,000 tonnes of Canadian feed wheat was sold to Vietnam for an unspecified delivery date.

The 80,000 tonnes were expected to be broken up into at least two cargoes. Most Canadian sources felt the business had been completed some time ago.

Louise Waldman of the Canadian Wheat Board would neither confirm nor deny the market speculation.

"However, I can tell you that as previously indicated the CWB will probably market between 1.0 million to 2.0 million tonnes of feed wheat in the 2004-05 (August-July) marketing year, with Asia historically a strong market for this type of wheat," Waldman said.

The Canadian feed wheat will be blended and then milled to make flat breads and such, an export source said, requesting his name not be used.

Glenn Lennox, a wheat analyst with Agriculture and Agriculture-Food Canada, said South Korea has been one of the primary targets for the CWB and its feed wheat over the past number of years, but sales to smaller players such as Vietnam would also not come as a surprise.

"The CWB has been very aggressive in trying to move their feed wheat stocks, and Asia will definitely be a target for their sales people," Lennox said.

The export source felt that by the time the 2004-05 season is over, the CWB's feed wheat-export program will be well above its forecasted 2.0 million tonnes.