CBH Published Pool Return Updates

22/4/2022

This week we have finalised the results for the 21/22 Wheat and Barley Flexi-Starter Pool, including the final EPR, Grade Spreads and Storage and Handling fees.

Wheat

Wheat Flexi Starter Pool:

$426.49 APW1 KWI

Barley

Barley Flexi Starter Pool:

$338.79 BFED1 KWI

The Wheat Flexi Starter final pool return has managed to exceed the best available cash prices over almost the entire marketing window, which is a fantastic result. The pool has rewarded participants with returns anywhere from $54-64 above the average of cash prices and between $84-109 above the harvest average depending on the zone.

The first season of the Barley Flexi Starter pool has delivered an outstanding result to participants, with the pool return exceeding the best available cash prices over the majority of the marketing window. The pool return outperformed the average cash price by $45-65 per tonne and outperformed the average harvest cash price by $71-105 per tonne, depending on the zone.

From an international market perspective, wheat and barley prices remained relatively well supported over the 21/22 season. From mid-year there were concerns around Northern Hemisphere production in multiple jurisdictions, including the US, Canada and Russia, which set the foundation for solid prices in global wheat and barley markets over the back half of 2021. Additionally, the Russian wheat export tax continued to place upwards pressure on Russian export prices, underpinning global values further.

These factors saw Australian wheat and barley remain competitively priced on the global stage, enabling the bumper local production to execute into international demand with the major constraint being capacity limitations. Strong global demand for our record crop saw the available shipping capacity committed much further out the curve than normal. This explains the more accelerated nature of the Flexi-Starter sales program from October onwards as global values maintained their climb higher and elevation margins began to widen as the size of the local oversupply, and hence the magnitude of the likely capacity constraint, became apparent.

In late February, wheat and barley markets shifted higher again when Russia invaded Ukraine, creating significant uncertainty around the availability of exports from two of the largest global suppliers. Whilst the marketing program was well advanced by this stage, the pool was able to capture additional premiums on its remaining uncommitted stocks.

We would like to thank all growers who utilised the Flexi-Starter Pool for their marketing program in the 21/22 season and we look forward to your participation in the future.