Canadian wheat board denies rumuor of cancelled sales

China has not cancelled purchases of Canadian wheat because of concerns about poor quality supplies, a Canadian Wheat Board spokeswoman said on Friday, denying a rumour circulating in US wheat markets. CWB spokeswoman Louise Waldman said the rumour was not true, but said she could not comment on sales matters.
US wheat futures firmed on Thursday and Friday and some traders cited rumours that China had cancelled orders for Canadian wheat and bought US spring wheat instead.
The CWB, which has a monopoly on export sales from Canada's main wheat-growing region, rarely speaks about its business with China, done through the state-owned China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp (COFCO).
In the 2003-04 (Aug-July) marketing year, China was the CWB's largest customer, buying 1.8 million tonnes of wheat.
In September, the CWB's Chief Executive Adrian Measner said during a visit to Beijing that the shipping program for 2004/05 would be similar.
"We stick by our projections," Waldman said. "We will have a similar program."
Waldman would not comment on whether the CWB has had to roll forward sales booked for China, nor whether China was willing to buy any of Canada's ample stocks of lower-quality wheat.
Only 30 percent of Canada's 2004 wheat crop made the top two grades, down from 90 percent in 2003. The long-term average is 60 percent to 65 percent.
Canadian grain companies have estimated at least 30 percent of Canada's crop was downgraded to feed. The rest graded No 3 and No 4.
"I heard ... they (the CWB) want China to accept something like Grade 3," a Chinese grain trade source told Reuters.
"But I don't think China will take Grade 3 at the moment. So I think it is in the bargaining at the moment," the source said.
Canadian grain industry sources agreed that the CWB may have difficulties selling its lower-quality crop to China, which likes high-protein wheat to blend with its own supplies.
"China does not buy lower protein," an industry source said, estimating the CWB will have shipped, at most, about 1.25 million tonnes of wheat to China between September 1 and the end of December.
Some Canadian sources noted ships at the West Coast port of Vancouver have been lined up, waiting to be loaded with wheat.
CWB records showed seven ships were loading at Vancouver with four waiting to load. The longest wait has been 17 days.
The CWB's Waldman said November was a slow month for shipping because of Canada's delayed harvest, but said movement has picked up during the past 10 days.