China buys Canadian and Australian wheat

Chinese buyers have bought between 400,000 and 500,000 tonnes of wheat from Australia and Canada in recent weeks as heat waves threaten to damage crops in China’s farming areas, traders said. China is the world’s largest wheat producer and also imports large volumes of the grain when domestic supply falls short of demand. Earlier this week, Henan province, which accounts for about a third of China’s harvest, issued a risk warning as hot, dry weather threatens its wheat fields. Chinese buyers have bought four or five 55,000-tonne shipments of wheat from Australia for delivery in July or August and about 200,000 tonnes from Canada, sources at two major trading firms in Australia said. The wheat is milling quality. The orders from Australia are China’s first from the country since last year, one trader said. State-owned Chinese company COFCO, which handles most of the country’s wheat imports, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has been one of the ...