NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
May 2011	1 July 2011
June 2011	28 July 2011
July 2011	26 August 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).

Stocks of barley and other grains and pulses are no longer collected. The final updated estimates appeared in the March 2011 issue. The publication of monthly data on stocks of wheat grain held by bulk handlers will continue unchanged.

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.


EFFECT OF FLOODS

Extensive flooding began in late December 2010 in Queensland and was more wide spread in both Queensland and other states in January 2011. While the effects of the floods were severe, any impacts on levels of wheat grain stocks held by bulk grain handlers have been surpassed by a high yield wheat grain season. However, the poor season and difficult harvest conditions contributed to a reduction in quality of the grain.


KEY POINTS

At the end of April 2011, Australia's bulk storage of wheat grain was estimated at 17.3 million tonnes. This represents a decrease of around 1.4 million tonnes (8%) of wheat grain stored when compared to March 2011. Stocks of wheat grain are up by 36% compared to April 2010.

All states, other than Victoria (up by 77 thousand tonnes), reported decreases in stocks of wheat grain compared to March 2011. Western Australia had the most significant fall with 567 thousand tonnes. New South Wales and South Australia had the largest amounts of wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers with 6.2 million tonnes and 4.2 million tonnes respectively.

The wet harvest season contributed to a lower quality yield of wheat grain and this has continued from March into April 2011. Of the total wheat grain stored by bulk grain handlers, milling grade accounted for 9.5 million tonnes (55%) and feed grade 7.8 million tonnes (45%). This compares to 86% (11.0 million tonnes) for milling and 14% (1.7 million tonnes) for feed in 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
2009-10(d)
	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
	June	1 997	986	608	2 566	3 727	9 884	8 642	1 242
	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
(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.