a's Hubei province have begun to harvest the 16.82 million mu (about 1.1 million hectares/ 2.7 million acres) of local wheat fields.Above, a reaper cuts wheat in the field in Xiangyang City, central China's Hubei province, on May 20, 2014, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Farmers collect the harvested wheat in Xiangyang City, central China's Hubei province earlier in the week.
Global Wheat Production
According to USDA's World Markets and Trade report released in May, global wheat production is projected to reach 697 million tons, down from the 2013/14 record.
Black Sea regional production is down, particularly Ukraine, but exportable supplies are still ample. In the Middle East, Syria and Turkey’s wheat crops are reduced because of drought.
In North Africa, Morocco’s production is down significantly from last year, but Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt all have larger crops. South America is projected to recover, boosting supplies in the region.
The US crop is projected lower than last year due to adverse weather in Hard Red Winter wheat growing areas.
Global Wheat Consumption
Global consumption is expected to decline marginally as corn continues to displace wheat in feed rations. Global ending stocks are forecast to rise marginally to 187 million tons.
Exporter ending stocks, on the other hand, are nearly unchanged; a decline in the United States and Canada is mostly offset by gains in the EU and Russia.
Global trade is projected down from last year’s record, but still sizable at 152 million tons. China has abundant domestic feedgrain supplies and imported feed-quality wheat prices have risen sharply.
Brazil is lower because of a projected record crop. Most North African countries are lower due to a combination of recent large purchases and favorable crop prospects. The European Union opened a special duty-free Tariff-Rate Quota for Ukraine, which is expected to support a higher import volume.
Mexico has a larger crop and imports are projected lower. The United States is forecast lower as a result of a smaller crop in Canada.
Turkey is forecast at a record because production is expected to be the lowest in 20 years and the Government already announced that it would permit 2.5 million tons of duty-free imports over a 2-year period.
Wheat in China
While China occupies a large territory, only about 15 per cent of China's total land area can be cultivated. China's arable land is primarily in the eastern region, also the most densely populated region of the country.
China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, millet, potatoes, peanuts, tea and cotton, each of which represents a particular adaptation to specific environmental conditions.
Wheat is the second most-prevalent grain crop grown especially on the North China Plain, in Jiangsu, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces. Other crops include corn, millet, soybean in north and northeast China, sweet potatoes in the south, white potatoes in the north and peanuts in Shandong and Hebei provinces.
