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High US wheat prices depress exports

  • Mercados: Agriculture
  • 11/02/22

US wheat exports are on pace to fall short of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts for the 2021-22 marketing year as elevated wheat prices keep a lid on global demand for US supply.

Total wheat commitments — the sum of outstanding sales and exports — were 17.3mn metric tonnes (t) during the week ending 3 February, 21pc lower than USDA export projections of 22.05mn t and trended near the bottom of the 14-year range, according to Argus' agricultural analytical arm Agritel.

US sales would need to rise by an additional 4.7mn t before the marketing year ends, which runs from June-May, to meet official estimates.

Sales between mid-February and May are unlikely to ramp up and close the gap with USDA estimates, as marketing year-to-date exports by 3 February were 22pc lower at 12.8mn t than the same period the year prior. The US would need to export 576,600 t/week of wheat for the rest of the marketing year — when exports typically trend lower — to meet expectations.

US exports are facing additional resistance from elevated prices that have made domestic wheat unpalatable to global consumers. Front-month US wheat futures prices have risen by 15pc since the start of the 2021-22 marketing year and settled at $7.98/bushel today.

US wheat prices have been supported by drought in the central US and Pacific Northwest, with prices peaking at $8.56/bushel in late November, the highest price since November 2012.

Recent geopolitical tension has also lent price support and will likely keep US prices elevated in the near-term. But Russia-Ukraine tensions have added pressure to Ukrainian prices, and spot Ukraine wheat prices plummeted in recent weeks.

Bumper harvests in other countries have also kept wheat values under pressure, with some exporters turning to these markets instead.

China has stepped up purchases of Australian and French wheat recently, according to the USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS). China's Australian imports for the first half of the 2021-22 marketing year is just shy of 1mn t, with another 4mn t of purchases expected, according to FAS.

Meanwhile, marketing year-to-date US exports to China dropped to 847,900t, roughly half of 2020-21 marketing year exports for the same period. China has also recently made allowances for more Russian wheat exports, making it unlikely they will take more US wheat. China currently has no outstanding US sales for the rest of the marketing year.

The USDA's recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report also helped lift US prices further this week, as it noted tighter supply and demand fundamentals with higher global consumption and lower ending stocks. US production was unchanged from January at 44.79mn t, while ending stocks were revised up to 7.63mn t, amid expectations of weaker exports.


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