Australia's 2017/18 wheat production is expected to decline further, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said on Tuesday, after recent storms damaged the crop and following a severe drought earlier in the season that reduced yields. The world's fourth-largest wheat exporter is forecast to produce 20.3 million tonnes of wheat this year, the agency said, down more than 6 percent from its September forecast of 21.64 million tonnes and 42 percent below last year's record crop of more than 35 million tonnes.
"Favourable seasonal conditions during spring have boosted crop prospects in Western Australia but unfavourable conditions across New South Wales have adversely affected yield prospects," ABARES Executive Director, Steve Hatfield-Dodds, said in statement.