Wheat Exports Expected To Increase

The USDA expects that American wheat growers will see exports and prices climb as the marketing year continues.  USDA Outlook Chairman Seth Meyer said the pace of exports have been tepid at this point.  He expects that to change later in this marketing year.

But, right now, "The Russians have been eating our lunch so to speak, when it comes to global trade,” Meyer said.  “This would have been a nice opportunity with a smaller Australian crop but the Russians have been exporting at a very good pace.  We have become more price competitive recently, so again, this is another one of those situation where maybe the normal export pattern for a year doesn't hold and we do better business after the Russians fade later on in the marketing year, so we still expect that we'll have exports rising year over year."

Meyer said U.S. wheat exports could top last season by 13.5% to just a bit over a billion bushels, and prices could top last year by 38 cents to an average $5.10 a bushel.

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