The Canadian Wheat Board has boosted its export target for 2009-10.
The grain marketing agency announced on Wednesday that it is now projecting shipments of 18.7 million tonnes for the year, which would be the highest export total in a decade. The figure represents a two-million-tonne increase over CWB’s mid-summer forecasts, when the harvest outlook was grim.
However, favourable fall weather resulted in better-than-expected quality and yields.
“After experiencing a growing season in which crop production and quality was continually revised downward due to poor weather conditions, the CWB is pleased to be moving ahead with a strong export program notable for its high-quality grain,” said Ward Weisensel, the CWB’s chief operating officer, in the agency’s annual Grain Marketing Report.
The export target consists of 13.5 million tonnes of wheat, 3.5 million tonnes of durum and 1.7 million tonnes of barley — including up to 1.3 million tonnes of bulk malting barley.
Weisensel cautioned that there could be a global oversupply of durum this year, with weak demand and large crops pushing prices down.
Malting barley prices have also been under pressure, and feed barley export markets are unattractive compared to the domestic feed market.