WORLD MARKETS AND TRADE:

COMMENTARY AND CURRENT DATA

WHEAT: WORLD MARKETS AND TRADE

MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS: See PDF version for charts

Indian Imports Jump: India’s wheat imports are revised up this month to 6 million tons, the highest in 30 years. This would make India the world’s fourth largest importer after Egypt, Brazil, and the European Union. Very tight beginning stocks and smaller production have caused prices to surge, and the State Trading Corporation of India (STC) has recently issued the fifth wheat import tender this year. With this, the total quantity tendered for imports by the STC has reached 5.5 million tons. In addition, the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC), another public sector trading company, imported 50,000 tons. Private millers and traders are also importing smaller quantities of wheat for milling and these private sector imports are expected to be as high as half a million tons this year

PRICES:

Domestic: For August, prices rose, especially at the end of the month as supplies continued to tighten in many of the world’s major exporters. For soft wheat, very strong export demand also supported prices; sales of Soft Red Winter are currently up 46 percent from last year, Soft White sales are up 20 percent. For the month, Soft Red Winter (SRW) prices rose $17 and Soft White (SWW) prices rose $9 per ton. Hard Red Winter (HRW) rose $4 per ton, while Hard Red Spring (HRS) prices fell $3 per ton.

Selected Exporters

• Argentina is down 300,000 tons to 8.5 million on smaller crop prospects.

• Bulgaria is up 300,000 tons to 1.0 million on larger crop prospects and strong early season sales to the European Union under a beneficial tariff-rate quota.

• Canada is up 500,000 tons to 19.0 million--a 7-year high--as production is raised this month. In contrast to tight supplies in the rest of the world’s exporters, Canadian supplies are at a 10-year high.

• Ukraine is up 500,000 tons to 4.0 million as high global prices encourage strong sales.

• Ethiopia is down 200,000 tons to 500,000 as larger grain harvests reduce the need for foreign supplies.

• India is up 2.0 million tons to 6.0 million--a 30-year high--on very large recent purchases.

• South Africa is down 100,000 tons to 1.1 million as production is expected at the highest level in 4 years.

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Last modified: Wednesday, September 13, 2006