7307.0 - Wheat Use and Stocks, Australia, March 2009 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/05/2009   
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


WHEAT GRAIN STORED

Total grain stored by bulk grain handlers and users at the end of March 2009 decreased 2.9 million tonnes to 12.1 million tonnes from December 2008.

At the end of March 2009, the amount of wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers was 11.5 million tonnes, of which 8.9 million tonnes was graded for milling and 2.5 million tonnes was graded for feed.

Wheat grain stored by wheat grain users at the end of March 2009 decreased by 4.4% from February 2009 to 603 thousand tonnes.


WHEAT GRAIN USED

The estimate of wheat grain used in March 2009 was 2.4 million tonnes, an increase of 40.1% from last month, mainly due to a significant increase in exports.

Wheat grain exports in March 2009 increased 700 thousand tonnes, to 2.0 million tonnes. The main exporting state continued to be Western Australia (1.0 million tonnes) followed by New South Wales (300 thousand tonnes).

Domestic usage in March 2009 was 395 thousand tonnes, an increase of 11 thousand tonnes from last month. Domestic use of wheat grain continued to be highest in New South Wales at 174 thousand tonnes.

Nationally, the total wheat grain used since the end of September 2008 was 9.2 million tonnes.


WHEAT GRAIN COMMITTED

At 31 March 2009, there were 5.1 million tonnes of wheat grain committed for domestic use within Australia or for export. This represented an increase of 7.6% from the February estimate of 4.7 million tonnes.

Of the total wheat grain committed in Australia, 4.1 million tonnes (79.9%) were contracted for export, and 1.0 million tonnes (20.1%) were contracted for domestic use.