SASKATOON – Exports of western Canadian grains are down to their lowest level in seven years.
The Canadian Wheat Board is projecting 1995-96 exports of the six major cereal grains and oilseeds will total 22.4 million tonnes when the marketing year ends on July 31.
That’s down 23 percent from last year’s 29.3 million tonnes and the lowest since the 17.9 million exported in the drought year of 1988-89.
The lower export total doesn’t mean foreign buyers were any less interested in buying Canadian grain, say grain industry officials.
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“It reflects that the available supplies just weren’t there this year,” said Canadian Wheat Board information officer Rhea Yates.
Last year’s stockpile low
While western Canadian farmers produced a good-sized crop of 44.9 million tonnes last year, the amount of grain carried over into the 1995-96 marketing year was down sharply. Total on-farm and commercial stocks on Aug. 1, 1995 were 8.8 million tonnes, down from nearly 16 million tonnes a year earlier. Farmers had cleaned out their bins last summer in an effort to avoid the big jump in freight rates last Aug. 1.
The wheat board is projecting lower export totals for all major cereals and oilseeds.
- Wheat exports are expected to total 12.2 million tonnes, down from 16 million tonnes last year, while durum will be 3.3 million tonnes (4.0 million last year.)
- Barley exports will be 2.3 million tonnes (3.0 million), while oats will total 1.1 million tonnes (1.4 million) and rye will slip to 160,000 tonnes (187,000).
- Canola exports will be off sharply to 2.7 million tonnes (3.9 million), while flaxseed will be 745,000 tonnes (848,000).
Grain handling companies say it should be relatively smooth sailing in terms of grain deliveries from now to the end of the crop year.
There has been the usual post-seeding spurt of deliveries, with elevator space across the Prairies dropping steadily from 54 percent in mid-June to 40 percent in mid-July. Elevators are at their fullest in Saskatchewan, with 35 percent space. In Alberta it’s 40 percent and in Manitoba a roomy 54 percent.
The recent increase in deliveries has been good news for Thunder Bay, which has received more grain than expected. Rail cars unloads are expected to average well over 2,000 cars a week for the rest of the month, compared with the official target of 1,620.
Total grain deliveries from western farms will be down about 10 percent this year. Canadian Grain Commission statistics indicate that as of July 7 farmers had delivered 30.3 million tonnes of the major grains and oilseeds to elevators and processors, compared with 33.7 million tonnes at the same time last year.
Domestic consumption of grain is virtually identical to last year at nine million tonnes.
