STAT Communications Ag Market News

Lentils Sold Out in 2015-16

PANAMA - Sep 7/16 - SNS -- Canada finished the 2015-16 marketing year effectively sold out of lentils, with Statistics Canada pegging ending stocks at just 73,000 metric tons (MT) for a stocks to use ratio of just 2.6%.

Statistics Canada said there were only 35,000 MT of lentils left on farms on July 31, down from 322,000 last year. Stocks in commercial hands dropped from 43,000 to 38,000 MT. It is worth noting that the Canadian Grain Commission reports there were 32,200 MT of lentils in the bulk handling system on July 31, putting stocks on hand in cleaning plants at just 5,800 MT.

All farm stocks were held in Saskatchewan, while last year farmers in Alberta said they had 10,000 MT in their binds, compared to 312,000 on Saskatchewan farms. Interestingly, farmers in Alberta delivered 1,800 MT of lentils and Saskatchewan farmers 6,900 MT during the first two weeks of this marketing year. Though no harvest progress was reported during the first two weeks of August, new crop deliveries cannot be ruled out.

At the same time, the government agency increased last year's production estimate from 2.37 million to 2.54 million MT. With exports officially pegged at 2.14 million MT, inferred disappearance on domestic markets ballooned to a record 686,008 MT.

Only active subscribers can read all of this article.

If you are a subscriber, please log into the website.

If you are not a subscriber, click here to subscribe to this edition of the STAT website and to learn more about becoming a subscriber.