Friday, August 31, 2007

Wheat Boom


Wheat prices have gone through the roof.

Wheat prices have broken through all-time record levels, fuelling concern consumers could soon be paying even more for bread, baked goods, beef, chicken, eggs, beer and a range of products exposed to grain prices.
As has barely and it had nothing to do with the Harpocrites phony plebiscite to break up the Wheat Board.

Prices for barley — a major livestock feed and a key ingredient in beer — also continue to break records.

Jason Craig, acting senior trading manager with WA grain group CBH, said yesterday forward cash prices for the coming barley harvest had swept to $325 a tonne for feed barley and $336 for malt barley this week.

That is a jump of nearly $20 since Tuesday and $70 in the past three weeks, mainly due to problems in Ukraine, a big supplier to Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest feed barley importer.

“We have never seen prices like this,” Mr Craig said. “This is unknown territory.”

The global harvest of summer wheat has begun while spring wheat planting begins. But production estimates are down. Meaning an increase in prices.

Farmers in western Canada
may harvest their smallest wheat crop since 2002 because of reduced planted acreage and unfavorable weather, a government survey shows.

Production of all varieties of wheat by farmers in the four western provinces may be 18.7 million metric tons, 16.5 percent less than the 22.4 million tons harvested last year, Statistics Canada said today. The report is based on a survey of 17,300 farmers between July 27 and Aug. 5.
Wheat is all set to see a price rise following the International Grains Council’s announcement that the carryover stock of the cereal is bound to witness a fall in 2007-08.

According to a report by the council, global 2007-08 wheat carryover stocks will fall to a 28-year low of 111 million tonnes.

Global wheat output this year is seen at 607 million tonnes, up 16 million tonnes from last year, but down 7 million tonnes from the council’s previous estimate due to lower output in European Union and Canada, the report issued said.

Lower output has pushed up global wheat prices, leading to lower consumption of the cereal as feed. As a result, global wheat demand is also seen lower at 614 million tonnes, down 3 million tonnes from the Council’s last estimate in July.

Although much of the reduction in the world crop estimate is offset by lower consumption, forecast of wheat stocks at the end of 2007-08 are placed 2 million tonnes lower than previously, at 111 million tonnes, the smallest since 1979-80, with those in the five major exporters (Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU and the US) expected to be especially tight, the report said.


And even the Commodities markets; including wheat and barley, were affected by America's sub-prime meltdown. Far more than by Chuck Strahl's illegal plebiscite on barley.
Also supporting prices was a slowdown in the selling by investors that had been prompted by declines in global equity markets, McDougall said. Investors sold commodity futures last week to cover losses in other markets on concerns that tightening credit might slow economic growth.

Wheat and barley shortfalls have affected prices more than the Harpocrites illegal attempt to strip malt barley sales from the Wheat Board. Which they contended was the case for the increase in the barely price. Which it wasn't.



SEE:

Death of the Family Farm

Slap Upside The Head

Barley B.S.



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