Global shipments of grains have tightened in the past months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and together with India’s recent move to ban wheat exports and adverse weather in the US, prices have risen to all-time highs.

Australia has nearly finished this year’s wheat planting on about 14.5 Mn hectares, an all-time-high, encouraged by the surging prices. The 2021/22 season, which was produced on 14 Mn hectares, saw a record 36 MMT harvested. Though early, analyst estimate total output for the 2022/23 crop at 30-35 MMT. Wheat output in the past 10 years has averaged 25 MMT as the nation sees another potential above-30-MMT crop this season with the anticipated favorable weather.

Global wheat production is set to fall, however, as the USDA estimate a decline to 775 MMT in 2022/23, from 780 MMT last year.

China emerged as the biggest buyer of Australian wheat this year, with Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea being other key importers in the region.