April 24, 2008

Global wheat prices to stabilise for the next two months 

Global wheat prices are likely to move sideways over at least the next two months due to better-than-previously-expected crops in China and projections of record high output in India, a senior industry executive said late Wednesday (April 23, 2008).

Chicago Board of Trade July wheat fell 34 1/2 cents to $8.31 1/2 per bushel Wednesday.

"Unless there is a weather catastrophe, prices are expected to see some sideways movement," said Mark Samson, Vice President for South Asia at US Wheat Associates.

He said according to the latest indications, India is potentially harvesting a wheat crop of a record size of over 76 million tonnes.

China's wheat output this is year is currently estimated between 104 million tons and 106 million tons, little changed from last year, he said.

Earlier it had been expected that China's wheat output could fall this year due to an unusually cold winter.