Newsroom
2002
August 7, 2002
CWB sees bullish price forecast for new crop year
Winnipeg - The CWB says the 2002-03 crop year will likely see gains for Prairie farmers in terms of the prices they will receive for their milling wheat and barley. The price levels reflect the tighter supplies in several major exporting nations, including Western Canada.
The CWB's most recent projections for the 2002-03 crop year put total wheat production (excluding durum) in Western Canada at 12.24 million tonnes - 6.09 million tonnes below the five-year average and the smallest milling wheat crop since 1974. Prairie durum production, concentrated in areas where precipitation has been more plentiful, is predicted to be 4.1 million tonnes, approximately 34 per cent higher than it was in 2001. Barley production is now pegged at 7.8 million tonnes. This is four million tonnes below the five-year average.
"This year's higher prices are certainly welcome and we hope that they will continue to rally. However, for farmers with no crop, they are of little consolation," stated Ken Ritter, Chair of the CWB farmer-controlled board of directors. "As difficult as the past crop year was, many farmers are facing even worse hardships in 2002. Our production numbers indicate just how bad things are shaping up to be."
Ritter spoke at the CWB's end-of-year news conference held this morning. A crop year does not follow the calendar year but runs instead from August 1 to July 31 of the following year.
In his comments, Ritter listed some of the corporation's achievements in 2001-02. These included the successful conclusion of the Auditor General's review of the CWB, the introduction of more payment options for farmers as well as providing administration services for farmers who wish to load and ship their own rail cars.
"These initiatives clearly demonstrate our commitment to move ahead on a number of issues that are important to farmers," Ritter added. "Regardless of whether the crop is good or bad, we have the responsibility to provide the leadership that farmers demand from their marketing agent."
Greg Arason, President and CEO, highlighted results of the past year's sales program.
"With a larger carryover of durum from the previous crop year and larger quantities of high protein, high quality wheat, our sales staff had significant volumes of grain to sell into higher value markets," said Arason.
He noted that this year, the CWB sold farmers' grain to roughly 70 countries around the world, from Algeria to Zimbabwe. Canadian millers and maltsters were the largest-volume customers for milling wheat and barley. Other major buyers of milling wheat included Japan, the U.S., Mexico and Iran. In the case of barley, the U.S., China, South Africa and Columbia rounded out the top five customers. The top customer for durum, as it has been for several years now, was Algeria, followed by the U.S., Morocco, Tunisia and Italy. Canada's own domestic pasta processing sector was sixth.
A list of the top-five customers and their total purchases for the 2001-02 crop year is attached, as well as tables reporting clearances of western Canadian grain by port for both 2001-02 and 2000-01.
Both Ken Ritter's and Greg Arason's speeches are available on the CWB Web site, along with an audio Web cast of the entire news conference.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to more than 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less the costs of marketing, to Prairie farmers.
For more information, please contact:
Louise Waldman
Manager, Media Relations
Telephone: 204-983-3101
Cell: 204-227-0623
|
Western Canadian Bulk Grain Exports |
||||||||
|
By Port |
||||||||
|
2001-021 (thousand tonnes) |
||||||||
|
Wheat |
Durum |
Barley |
Oats |
Rye |
Flax |
Canola |
Total |
|
|
Vancouver |
6 046.0 |
425.0 |
524.0 |
18.0 |
- |
98.0 |
2 236.0 |
9 347.0 |
|
Prince Rupert |
1 100.0 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1 100.0 |
|
Total West Coast |
7 146.0 |
425.0 |
524.0 |
18.0 |
- |
98.0 |
2 236.0 |
10 447.0 |
|
Churchill |
359.0 |
47.0 |
- |
- |
- |
2.0 |
- |
408.0 |
|
Thunder Bay |
785.0 |
344.0 |
127.0 |
122.0 |
- |
460.0 |
164.0 |
2 002.0 |
|
St. Lawrence Ports |
1 741.0 |
2 207.0 |
- |
5.0 |
- |
- |
31.0 |
3 984.0 |
|
Atlantic Seaboard |
19.0 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
19.0 |
|
Interior |
1 487.0 |
599.0 |
388.0 |
771.3 |
56.9 |
45.2 |
92.4 |
3 439.8 |
|
Total |
11 537.0 |
3 622.0 |
1 039.0 |
916.3 |
56.9 |
605.2 |
2 523.4 |
20 299.8 |
| 1/ CWB Sales Program as of
August 2, 2002. Includes exports from unlicensed
facilities. Source: Canadian Grain Commission and Statistics Canada for 2001 - 2002 |
||||||||
|
Western Canadian Bulk Grain Exports |
||||||||||
|
By Port |
||||||||||
|
2000-011 (thousand tonnes) |
||||||||||
|
Wheat |
Durum |
Barley |
Oats |
Rye |
Flax |
Canola |
Total |
|||
|
Vancouver |
6 282.4 |
512.6 |
1 274.0 |
31.8 |
12.6 |
77.1 |
4 227.9 |
12 418.4 |
||
|
Prince Rupert |
2 053.1 |
- |
2.0 |
- |
- |
- |
160.4 |
2 215.5 |
||
|
Total West Coast |
8 335.5 |
512.6 |
1 276.0 |
31.8 |
12.6 |
77.1 |
4 388.3 |
14 633.9 |
||
|
Churchill |
471.3 |
25.6 |
- |
- |
- |
18.9 |
- |
515.8 |
||
|
Thunder Bay |
726.1 |
234.7 |
127.2 |
224.6 |
- |
441.9 |
196.6 |
1 951.1 |
||
|
St. Lawrence Ports |
1 714.2 |
2 299.1 |
- |
2.0 |
5.0 |
16.0 |
25.1 |
4 061.4 |
||
|
Atlantic Seaboard |
14.7 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
14.7 |
||
|
Interior |
1 376.4 |
372.4 |
512.5 |
1 343.0 |
71.9 |
60.2 |
253.3 |
3 989.6 |
||
|
Total |
12 638.2 |
3 444.4 |
1 915.6 |
1 601.4 |
89.5 |
614.0 |
4 863.3 |
25 166.5 |
||
|
1/ CWB Sales Program as of August 2, 2002. Includes
exports from unlicensed facilities. |
||||||||||
|
CWB Largest Volume Customer Countries, by Crop Year |
||||
|
(thousand tonnes) |
||||
|
Wheat (excluding Durum) |
||||
|
2001-021 |
2000-01 |
|||
|
Country |
Quantity |
Country |
Quantity |
|
|
Canada |
2340 |
Canada |
2335 |
|
|
Japan |
1190 |
Iran |
1504 |
|
|
U.S. |
1034 |
Japan |
1406 |
|
|
Mexico |
891 |
Mexico |
1158 |
|
|
Iran |
813 |
U.S. |
1042 |
|
|
Durum |
Durum |
|||
|
2001-021 |
2000-01 |
|||
|
Country |
Quantity |
Country |
Quantity |
|
|
Algeria |
839 |
Algeria |
1346 |
|
|
U.S. |
575 |
Morocco |
627 |
|
|
Morocco |
479 |
U.S. |
368 |
|
|
Tunisia |
370 |
Venezuela |
313 |
|
|
Italy |
344 |
Canada |
293 |
|
|
Canada |
290 |
|||
|
Feed Barley |
Feed Barley |
|||
|
2001-021 |
2000-01 |
|||
|
Country |
Quantity |
Country |
Quantity |
|
|
Japan |
26 |
Saudi Arabia |
293 |
|
|
UAE |
10 |
Japan |
243 |
|
|
U.S. |
2 |
Iran |
110 |
|
|
China |
80 |
|||
|
U.S. |
43 |
|||
|
Designated Barley |
Designated Barley |
|||
|
2001-021 |
2000-01 |
|||
|
Country |
Quantity |
Country |
Quantity |
|
|
Canada |
975 |
Canada |
1150 |
|
|
U.S. |
540 |
U.S. |
554 |
|
|
China |
400 |
China |
472 |
|
|
South Africa |
72 |
Mexico |
34 |
|
|
Colombia |
52 |
South Africa |
26 |
|
|
1/ Preliminary. |
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