Australia’s wheat production outlook improves as harvest begins

Analysts have raised their estimates for Australia’s wheat harvest, a Reuters poll showed, as better-than-expected yields in western cropping regions boosted the production outlook despite losses caused by dry conditions in parts of the south. With harvesting underway and due to run until January, five analysts lifted their estimates by an average of half a million metric tons since late last month. The median of their estimates was for Australia to produce 35.7 million tons of wheat, which would be the third-biggest harvest on record. Large Australian production will add to abundant global wheat supply that has pushed benchmark Chicago prices to five-year lows. ZW1! Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat as well as barley, canola and other crops. Analysts also raised estimates for Australia’s barley harvest by an average of around 400,000 tons. Their canola numbers were little changed. The median forecasts were for a 15 million-ton barley crop, the largest ...