One-quarter of the way through the crop year, the Canadian Wheat Board is right on target to meet its 2001-02 export sales program.
As of Oct. 28, the board had exported 4,161,364 tonnes of wheat, durum and barley.
That represents 26 percent of the 16 million tonnes the board expects to ship to foreign buyers this year.
It is also eight percent less than the 4,519,211 tonnes shipped in the same period last year.
Wheat sales are down marginally to 3.3 million tones, durum is down 22 percent to 684,200 tonnes and barley sales are down 42 percent to 169,793 tonnes.
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Earl Geddes, the wheat board’s vice-president of farmer relations, said the big drop in durum sales is because Algeria, which bought 1.3 million tonnes of durum from Canada last year, has been totally out of the market since early summer.
“They had a better crop than people anticipated and they’re actually drawing down their own stocks right now.”
He said the board expects the Algerians to begin buying again soon.
He also said new customers have helped keep durum sales on track, despite Algeria’s absence.
Geddes said the board will have no trouble achieving the relatively modest 16 million tonne export target, which is down from last year’s 18.2 million tonnes sale program due to the smaller crop.
“We don’t see any glitches in the delivery system at all.”
He said railways are anxious for business, given the short crop, and grain companies are making good use of the tendering system.
So far this year the board has offered tenders on 25,750 rail cars and accepted bids on 16,147. That represents roughly 1.4 million tonnes of grain, or about 34 percent of total wheat board movement. The agency is required to ship 25 percent of its sales through commercial tenders.
Last year only about 625,000 tonnes were shipped under tender all year, because the major grain companies refused to participate.
Of the 16,147 tendered cars shipped so far this year, 10,662 have gone to Vancouver, 4,635 to Thunder Bay, 573 to Churchill and 277 to Prince Rupert.
Geddes said the abundance of high protein wheat will be the board’s biggest challenge.
“In a year like this it’s even more challenging from a marketing standpoint than a year in which you have a broad range of protein and quality across the spectrum,” he said.
This year’s Canada Western red spring wheat crop is averaging 14.7 percent protein, up from 13.6 percent last year and the highest level in more than a decade. For durum wheat, protein is averaging 14.1 percent this year, compared with 12.5 percent in 2000.
The board will have to sell high protein wheat to customers whose milling and baking industries aren’t interested in, or even able to use, high protein wheat.
“With a high protein crop, we have to make sure we are getting the best value we can from markets that really aren’t interested in that kind of protein quality,” said Geddes.
“If you’re making a certain style of Brazilian bread and your only option is to use 14 percent protein in your flour instead of the 12.5 that you want, it doesn’t bake the same.”
Canola exports are down by 54 percent to 657,400 tonnes, while sales of oats and flax seed are up. Total deliveries of the six major grains by western farmers are down 13 percent to 7.6 million tonnes.
