NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
June 2010	21 July 2010
July 2010	25 August 2010
August 2010 September 2010	22 September 2010 27 October 2010

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

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

In addition to the monthly wheat estimates, quarterly estimates for barley and selected other grains and pulses are available in a separate datacube from the 'Downloads' tab of this publication.

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 5846.


KEY POINTS

At the end of May 2010, Australia's bulk storage of wheat grain was estimated at 11.2 million tonnes, which was 13% less than the amount stored at the same time in April 2010. Of the total wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers, 87% (or 9.7 million tonnes) was milling grade and 13% (or 1.4 million tonnes) was feed grade. Wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers fell in all states in May 2010, when compared to April 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
2008-09(d)
	May	3 036	378	1 139	671	3 502	8 726	6 778	1 948
	June	2 548	302	973	519	2 656	6 998	5 416	1 582
	July	2 108	260	874	511	2 065	5 818	4 503	1 315
	August	1 730	168	690	362	1 544	4 494	3 452	1 042
	September(d)	1 232	110	531	297	1 251	3 421	2 645	776
2009-10(d)
	October	1 470	71	1 005	256	922	3 724	3 027	697
	November	4 066	337	1 217	1 716	2 697	10 033	8 590	1 443
	December	4 171	1 557	1 135	3 788	7 137	17 788	15 360	2 428
	January	3 856	1 734	1 044	3 789	6 621	17 044	14 642	2 402
	February	3 345	1 624	1 006	3 644	5 945	15 564	13 424	2 140
	March	2 951	1 450	940	3 475	5 252	14 068	12 133	1 935
	April	2 667	1 301	821	3 178	4 803	12 770	11 043	1 727
	May	2 238	1 137	694	2 895	4 186	11 150	9 729	1 421
(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.