Wheat exports from Australia seen increasing 13%: CBH

SINGAPORE: Wheat shipments from Australia, the world’s third-biggest exporter this year, will probably advance 13% in 2013-2014 as higher profits encourage farmers to boost planting, CBH Group said.

Sales may rise to as high as 18 million tonne in the year beginning November from 16 million tonne this year, said Tom Puddy, head of marketing at the country’s largest grain handler, which ships about 6 million tonne of wheat a year. Production will expand to 24 million tonne from 21.5 million tonne, he said.

Rising supplies from Australia may intensify competition among shippers, with the United Nations predicting world output in 2013 to be the second-highest on record, boosted by a recovery in yields in parts of Europe including Russia. Snow is boosting the harvest outlook in the US, while exports from India will surge to a record after government approved more shipments. Wheat, down this year, was the best performer on the Standard and Poor’s GSCI index of 24 commodities in 2012.

Exports from India may reach 10 million tonne in the year from April 1, according to the New Delhi-based National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.

World output may total 690 million tonne in the 2013 growing season, compared with 661.8 million tonne in 2012, the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation said on March 7.

The harvest would be second only to the 2011 record. Russia may produce 53 million tonne, up 39% from 2012, the FAO said.