US wheat export sales dip in latest week; no large demand seen from China: USDA

New Delhi — US wheat export sales in the week ended Sept. 10 hit the second-lowest point of the 2020-21 marketing season on the lack of big sales, while there was no large demand seen from Chinese buyers, data from the US Department of Agriculture showed Sept. 17.

In recent weeks, China has been ramping up its purchases of US agricultural products, including wheat.

China's total commitments for US wheat so far this season have inching to a five-year high.

China's commitments in 2020-21 still remained higher than those of the two largest traditional buyers of US wheat -- Mexico and Japan. The US wheat marketing year runs from June through May.

Accumulated US wheat exports to China have already hit 734,000 mt, a two-year high, according to the USDA data.

Bulk of sales to Asia

In the week to Sept. 10, bulk of sales were made by buyers in Asia, accounting for 73.4% of total US weekly wheat sales, the data showed.

The largest sales were made to Indonesia, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines.

The Philippines continued to be the top buyer of US wheat in the 2020-21 marketing season, higher than Mexico, which has been rationally the largest importer.

Year-to-date sales of 1.95 million mt to the Philippines already account for 54% of the total sales made in 2019-20, according to the data.

In the week to Sept. 10, US exported 564,019 mt of wheat, down 22% from the prior week, with largest shipments headed to Indonesia and the Philippines.

Total cumulative US wheat exports to global destinations have reached 7.7 million mt since the new season started, up 4.1% from the year-ago levels, according to the USDA data.

With the marketing season in its 16th week, total commitments for US wheat account for 49.5% of the USDA's export estimates of 26.54 million mt in 2020-21.

The agency in its September edition of World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report kept 2020-21 US wheat export projections unchanged from August level.

Source: USDA