NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
August 2011	27 September 2011
September 2011	26 October 2011

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

This publication provides estimates of stocks of wheat grain held by bulk grain handlers. These estimates are compiled from the Grain Handlers Stocks Survey (GHSS) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

For more detailed information on wheat use and stocks, see Wheat Use and Stocks, Australia (cat. no. 7307.0).

The ABS welcomes any comments from readers regarding the usefulness, range and quality of the statistics presented in this publication. Comments can be forwarded to: Environment and Agriculture Business Statistics Centre, Australian Bureau of Statistics, GPO Box 66, Hobart TAS 7001. Alternatively, email: agriculture.statistics@abs.gov.au, or phone (03) 6222 5939.


KEY POINTS

At the end of July 2011, Australia's bulk storage of wheat grain was estimated at 11.4 million tonnes. This represents a decrease of around 1.9 million tonnes (14%) of wheat grain stored when compared to June 2011. Stocks of wheat grain are up by 3.5 million tonnes (45%) on the July 2010 total.

All states reported decreases in stocks of wheat grain compared to June 2011. Although New South Wales and South Australia had the most significant falls, with 480 thousand tonnes and 513 thousand tonnes respectively, both of these states also held the largest amounts of wheat grain stored in July 2011. New South Wales had 4.5 million tonnes and South Australia held 2.7 million tonnes.

Compared to July 2010, there were significant increases in July 2011, with New South Wales (up by 3 million tonnes) and Victoria (up by 1.5 million tonnes) being the major contributors. Western Australia and Queensland had the only downturns in stocks held, with falls of 1.5 million tonnes and 37 thousand tonnes respectively.

Poor seasonal harvest conditions continued to contribute to a lower quality yield of wheat grain in July 2011. Of the total wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers, milling grade accounted for 6.1 million tonnes (53%) and feed grade 5.4 million tonnes (47%). This compares to 7.0 million tonnes (89%) for milling and 875 thousand tonnes (11%) for feed in July 2010.

STOCKS OF WHEAT GRAIN STORED BY BULK GRAIN HANDLERS, at month end
		WHEAT GRAIN STORED BY STATE						WHEAT GRAIN STORED BY GRADE(a)
		NSW(b)	Vic.(c)	Qld	SA	WA	Aust.	Milling	Feed
		'000 t	'000 t	'000 t	'000 t	'000 t	'000 t	'000 t	'000 t
2009-10(d)
	July	1 451	678	457	2 177	3 137	7 900	7 025	875
	August	1 351	603	397	1 723	2 613	6 687	5 938	749
	September(d)	972	487	320	1 393	1 943	5 115	4 530	585
2010-11(d)
	October	567	300	193	898	1 482	3 440	3 066	374
	November	2 687	218	1 105	906	3 534	8 450	6 316	2 134
	December	5 974	2 048	1 217	4 044	4 927	18 210	11 308	6 902
	January	7 825	3 426	1 150	5 415	4 346	22 162	12 468	9 694
	February	7 010	3 343	1 066	5 105	3 847	20 371	11 551	8 820
	March	6 661	3 085	929	4 589	3 476	18 740	10 280	8 460
	April	6 169	3 162	838	4 229	2 909	17 307	9 487	7 820
	May	5 509	2 912	772	3 747	2 355	15 295	8 354	6 941
	June	4 935	2 556	578	3 235	2 061	13 365	7 254	6 111
	July	4 455	2 188	420	2 722	1 662	11 447	6 093	5 354
(a) Wheat grain is graded by quality.
(b) Includes ACT.
(c) Includes Tas.
(d) The end of September is used to represent the closing stocks of wheat grain prior to the commencement of the next harvest period (October to September).

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.