At least one million tonnes of prairie wheat will find a home in China in the coming year.
The Canadian Wheat Board last week signed a memorandum of agreement with China’s national grain importing agency calling for shipments of that volume in the 2005-06 marketing year.
However, board officials said the final total might be greater.
“What this means is that sales will at minimum be one million tonnes,” said CWB spokesperson Louise Waldman.
For example, the last agreement between Canada and China, which covered the 2004 calendar year, specified a minimum of 500,000 tonnes, but actual sales exceeded 2.3 million tonnes.
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Sales will be negotiated under normal commercial practices and at market values. Based on current prices, the value of the agreement is approximately $250 million.
The deal was signed in Beijing Jan. 21 by Bill Spafford, the board’s vice-president of marketing, and representatives of the China National Cereals, Oil and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation, known as COFCO.
“China is an important market for the high quality milling wheat produced by western Canadian farmers,” Spafford said in a news release announcing the agreement.
“We are pleased to commit to continue meeting the needs of the Chinese market in the coming year.”
The CWB traditionally supplies about half of China’s total annual wheat imports, along with about 20 percent of its imports of malting barley.
