Canadian all wheat stocks as of Dec. 31 crept just marginally higher from a year earlier, while durum stockpiles saw a larger increase.
Friday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks report showed total national all wheat stock as of the end of last year at 24.481 million tonnes, up less than 1% from the same date a year earlier but down from the Dec. 31 2022 level of 24.821 million. Meanwhile, durum stocks as of Dec. 31 came in at 3.615 million tonnes, an increase of 13% from a year ago but down from 4.12 million two years earlier.
With a 2024-25 all wheat supply of 39.699 million tonnes, the Dec. 31 stocks level suggests Aug. 1 – Dec. 31 usage of 15.218 million, an increase of 5.5% over the same period the previous year.
Canadian all wheat exports to Dec. 31 increased 0.9% from a year earlier to 10.8 million tonnes and remained above the five-year average for the period, reflecting strong global demand for Canadian wheat, StatsCan said. Off-farm deliveries of wheat fell 0.4% to 15.3 million tonnes.
StatsCan attributed the increase in Dec. 31 all wheat stocks from the previous year to a larger 2024 crop which was up 6.1% to 34.958 million tonnes. Durum output in 2024 was sharply higher, rising 43.6% from 2023 to 5.87 million.
National all wheat on-farm stocks as of Dec. 31 were up 3.4% on the year to 20.942 million tonnes, offsetting lower commercial stocks, which decreased 11.7% to 3.539 million tonnes.
Saskatchewan on-farm all wheat stocks as of Dec. 31 were reported at 9.733 million tonnes, up 13.3% on the year, while durum stocks were 21% higher at 1.93 million. Alberta all wheat stocks were pegged at 7.246 million tonnes, down just marginally from 7.321 million a year earlier, while durum stocks, at 631,000, increased from 610,000 the previous year. All wheat on-farm stocks in Manitoba were down less than 200,000 tonnes from the previous year at 3.213 million.
Dec. 31 on-farm wheat stocks in Ontario – the largest winter wheat producing province – were estimated at 470,000 tonnes, down more than one-third from the Dec. 31 2023 level of 714,000.
