Total stocks of Canadian wheat as of Dec. 31 were up from last year, mainly due to larger inventories of durum.
A Statistics Canada grain stocks report released Friday showed total nationwide wheat stockpiles as of Dec. 31 at 27.5 million tonnes, up almost 6% from Dec. 1, 2024, following last year’s record-large crop of just under 40 million tonnes. At 22.152 million tonnes, stocks of non-durum wheat were up a relatively modest 3.2% on the year, while durum stocks increased a larger 18.4% on the year to 5.348 million.
For non-durum wheat, it was the heaviest Dec. 31 stocks level since 2013 at 23.799 million tonnes, while durum stocks were the heaviest since 2018 at 5.518 million.
Most traders and analysts were expecting total Dec. 31 wheat stocks to be lighter, with the average trade guess at 26.5 million tonnes.
Dec. 31 on-farm wheat stocks were up 7.2% to 24.1 million tonnes, while commercial stocks decreased 2.7% to 3.4 million.
Based on a total 2025-26 wheat supply of 44.172 million tonnes, the Dec. 31 stocks level would suggest Aug. 1 – Dec. 31 usage of 16.627 million tonnes, compared to 15.327 million a year earlier.
StatsCan said deliveries of wheat off farm rose 8.2% to a record high 17.1 million tonnes as of Dec. 31, surpassing the previous record of 15.8 million tonnes set in 2024. Wheat exports climbed 7.9% to a record 12.1 million tonnes.
On farm all wheat stocks in Saskatchewan as of Dec. 31 were estimated at 10.522 million tonnes, down 2.1% on the year, while Alberta stocks were up 21.5% to 8.935 million. Manitoba on-farm stocks, at 3.885 million tonnes, were up 9.2%. All wheat stocks on farm in Ontario were reported at 437,000 tonnes, down 11% from the previous year.
