International wheat prices

International wheat prices surged in August, reflecting a deterioration of production prospects in several major producers. Adverse conditions reduced yields and lowered output forecasts in Canada, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, and crop quality concerns rose in the European Union. With global wheat production in 2021 now forecast to decline below the record 2020 output, export quotations from all major origins increased.

The upward surge was led by an increase in the European Union origin (France grade 1) price by 18.4 percent, followed closely by the Russian Federation (milling, offer, f.o.b. deep-sea ports) and Ukraine (milling, offer, f.o.b) quotations, which increased by 17.5 and 17.4 percent, respectively. The benchmark US wheat price (No. 2, HRW) also increased, by 11.2 percent, nearly 47 percent above its value one year earlier.