The world will grow slightly less wheat in the upcoming crop year, but Canada's production looks to rise modestly, the Canadian Wheat Board said on Friday in its first outlook of the year. Global wheat production will slip nearly 2 percent to 677 million tonnes in 2012/13 from an estimated 688.8 million tonnes for the current marketing year, the Canadian Wheat Board said at a farm conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Canada's wheat production looks to edge up almost 2 percent to 25.7 million tonnes in 2012/13 from 25.261 in the current year. The outlook for wheat is bearish amid global economic uncertainty and increased winter wheat plantings in most Northern Hemisphere countries, said Bruce Burnett, the Canadian Wheat Board's director of weather and market analysis.
"Global supplies are moving from tightness to surplus, especially for wheat," Burnett said at the Crop Production Week conference. Markets will closely watch winter wheat crops in the United States and Ukraine in the coming months, as crops in both countries have seen dry conditions, he said.