THE WORLD is facing a dearth of high protein and durum wheat this year, meaning good opportunities for Australian producers of these commodities.
Jeffrey McPike, marketing manager, McDonald Pelz Global Commodities, based in Boulder, Colorado in the United States, said based on current values, Australian durum wheat was some of the cheapest in the world.
“With a bid of around $A330-350 a tonne for durum that is looking pretty cheap right now,” Mr McPike said at last week’s Australian Grains Industry Conference (AGIC).
“Durum prices are already over $400/t in the US.”
Mr McPike said the durum crop in key production zones in the Canadian prairies and in the northern US was in many places in its worst condition for over a decade.
His opinion was backed up by Statistics Canada data which showed the durum crop in Saskatchewan, Canada’s major durum producing province, was in its worst condition at this stage of the season for 13 years.
There has been excessive dry and heat in the Prairies, combined with damage in pockets caused by hail.
“We could easily be soon talking about the Great Pasta Drought of 2017,” Mr McPike said.
He said in the overall wheat market there had been a lot of talk of high stocks, but he said the situation was different when the stocks of high protein grain was analysed.
“We have a quality issue, there is Russian carryover, but the wheat was not of a good quality and in the US we have seen that while there is wheat in store, there has to be an incentive to sell it or it will be held back from the market.”