World Grain - January 2021 - 32

Mexico plants more bread wheat
For Mexico, the attaché reported on July 10 that " farmers have recently shifted to planting more bread wheat
rather than their typical durum-type wheat because of
PRGL¿FDWLRQVWRWKH0H[LFDQJRYHUQPHQW¶V*XDUDQWHH
Prices program, which grants small and medium growers a guarantee price per ton of bread wheat produced. "
32

" Private industry sources noted there has been a strong
shift from the average of 1.2 million tonnes of cristalino
(durum) wheat produced in south of Sonora and Sinaloa
to now producing approximately 800,000 tonnes of cristalino and 700,000 tonnes of bread wheat during the
2019-20 fall/winter crop cycle, " the USDA said. " Before
the Guarantee Price program, the average production of
bread wheat was between 300,000 and 350,000 tonnes. "
The attaché pointed out that, in general, bread wheat
has relatively lower yields than the cristalino variety.
" Mexico will continue to be a major importer of basic grains, " the attaché said. " In MY 2019-20, imports
are expected to continue their modest growth to meet
growing demand for livestock feed. "
'HVSLWH 0H[LFR¶V H൵RUWV WR GLYHUVLI\ LWV VRXUFHV RI
wheat, the United States continues to be the largest
supplier of wheat to Mexico, followed by Canada, the
report added.
" Private analysts expect that trend to continue in
MY2020-21, " the attaché said.
In addition to price considerations, which are cenWUDO IRU PLOOV¶ SXUFKDVLQJ GHFLVLRQV RWKHU LQÀXHQFLQJ
factors include the protein content and homogeneity of
shipments, the report said.
³0LOOHUVQRWHWKDWGL൵HUHQWVHFWLRQVRIDVLQJOHVKLSPHQWRI86ZKHDWFDQKDYHYHU\GL൵HUHQWSURWHLQOHYels, " the attaché said. " On the other hand, protein levels
in shipments from many other origins are more uniform.
" Mexican exports, particularly of cristalino wheat
for use in pastas, are expected to decrease to 750,000
tonnes for MY 2020-21, due to the lower domestic production of this variety in states such Sonora and Baja
California. Mexico's largest markets continue to be
Turkey, Venezuela and Algeria. "
Chris Lyddon is World Grain's European correspondent. He may be
contacted at: cajlyddon@gmail.com
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well, supported by sustained demand and resilient prices, the attaché said.
" Inputs such as fertilizer and on-farm chemicals have
remained available, rail transportation has been operating in grain producers' favor due to decreased competition from petroleum, and processing facilities have remained open without interruptions to the labor supply.
" Although still very early in 2020-21, data from
the Canadian Grain Commission indicate relatively
strong wheat (excluding durum) exports shipped out of
Canadian ports through the week ending Oct. 11, 2020.
Strong demand from China, as well as purchases from
%DQJODGHVKDQG3HUXERRVWHGH[SRUWVLQWKH¿UVWTXDUter of the trade year. "
Canada continued to be a leading supplier of wheat
to China in recent months despite renewed competition, the attaché said.
³:KHDW H[SRUWV WR &KLQD LQFUHDVHG VLJQL¿FDQWO\ LQ
April 2020, and then remained strong through August
2020 (the most recently available data from Statistics
Canada), " the USDA noted. " Access to transportation
remained an important factor for Canadian wheat and
wheat product exports. As Canada's petroleum industry contracted due to the COVID-19 situation, competition for rail service was reduced.
³&DQDGLDQ ZKHDW ÀRXU DQG ZKHDW SURGXFW H[SRUWV
EHQH¿WHG IURP LPSURYHG DFFHVV WR UDLO WUDQVSRUWDtion, and exports of these products from April through
August increased 33% in volume above the three-year
average. It also helped lead the country to two of the
largest monthly wheat export levels ever experienced,
in May and July 2020. "

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