WINNIPEG – Despite a marketing year plagued with problems, Canada still managed to export two million tonnes more than it did the previous year, the chief commissioner of the Canadian Wheat Board said.
While final numbers are not yet tallied, bulk grain exports are expected to top 27 million tonnes, up from 25 million tonnes in 1992/93.
When combined with the seed equivalents of the flour, oil and meal exported, the total exports from Canada will be close to 29 million tonnes.
Volume-wise, “the statistics indicate it should be quite a satisfactory year-end.”
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He said that’s “remarkable” given the messy harvest, late crop and poor quality, farmers and export salesmen had on their hands. Less than 30 percent of the wheat made the two top grades, only seven percent rated No. 1, and at 12.4 percent, its protein levels were well below average.
That meant Canada couldn’t supply some of its traditional customers for high-protein wheat. “Combined with the absence of major customers last fall, our sales program got off to a very slow start,” he said.
Transportation and labor problems compounded the situation. Hehn said it was spring before the export delivery system was operating efficiently.
The board has yet to release the total cost of those delays. Hehn said that information will likely be made available in September, after the marketing pools are closed for the year.
“It’s not a small bill, this time around.”
The board and other exporters faced hefty demurrage charges as well as other costs associated with deferring sales and moving delivery points from the west to east coast. “It took a long time to get back to a normal vessel lineup,” he said.
Alex Duncan, president of the Shippers and Exporters Association said the total cost to the trade will be around $30 million. “It cost a lot of money.”
“At least two small companies went out of the business because of it.”
Hehn said prairie farmers are carrying about five million tonnes of wheat into the new crop year, twice as much as they have in the previous three years.
Most of that wheat is No. 3 red spring.
But he said the board has a brisk fall sales program on the books. “A good part of that shipping is geared towards what farmers have in their bins,” Hehn said. “There will be some significant shipments of No. 3 red and low protein No. 2 red.”
