China is likely to have a wheat deficit of about 20 million tonnes this year, which will lead to the import of three million tonnes, a report from a government grain think-tank said.
"China's 2004 domestic wheat shortage is about 20 million tonnes," said the report obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
"The current plan is to import three million tonnes, including one million tonnes of wheat from Australia and 500,000 tonnes from Canada," it said.
The official China Securities Journal said on Wednesday the country's wheat imports totalled 450,000 tonnes in 2003, down 29.2 percent from the previous year.
A government grain source told Reuters China would sign contracts to buy 1.0-1.5 million tonnes of US wheat when the country sends a purchasing mission next month.
He said the wheat would be used to replenish state grain stocks, which have been shrinking due to lower-than-demand domestic production over past years.
The Chinese report followed an announcement by the US Agriculture Department on Tuesday that private exporters had reported the sale of 1.04 million tonnes of US wheat to China, including 740,000 tonnes for delivery in the 2004/2005 year.
The country has already announced it had agreed to buy 500,000 tonnes from Canada and one million tonnes from Australia.
China expects its 2004 wheat output to be slightly lower than 2003's output at 86.1 million tonnes, the lowest since 1989.
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