Australian Wheat Pool Outlooks Unchanged

DONALD - May 13/02 - STAT -- The Australian Wheat Board made no changes to its 2001-02 and 2002-03 marketing pools even though prices remain under pressure on world markets on account of intense competition among exporters for a limited volume of buying interest.

AWB National Pool General Manager Sarah Scales said despite the tough environment, AWB had been able to secure end user demand and continue providing the Australian farmer access to key markets for their wheat.

"Our solid pool management performance is highlighted by the fact that Australian export sales during the past month have actually outstripped those from the US, who are a much larger exporter overall," Scales said.

"At the moment the world market is being weighed down by extremely slow demand, and increased export competition from non-traditional wheat exporters such as the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and India," Scales said.

"As a result, the USDA in its May outlook predicts that the coming year will see the smallest US export program for 30 years."

Estimates for both the 2001-02 and 2000-03 AWB National Pool are both unchanged, with 2001-02 APW remaining at A$239 per metric tons (MT fob, GST exclusive), and the 2002-03 APW estimate between $210 and $220 MT.