Worldwide wheat exports by country totaled an estimated US$38.8 billion in 2019, down by -1.2% for all wheat shippers over the five-year period starting in 2015 when global wheat exports were valued at $38.7 billion. Year over year, the value of global wheat exports dropped by -7.1% from 2018 to 2019.



Among continents, European countries supplied over half of worldwide wheat exports during 2019 with shipments amounting to $20.2 billion or 52.8% of total global sales. Home to two leading wheat-shipping nations (Canada and United States), North America furnished 30.5% to take second place. Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean was responsible for 7.1% of wheat exports by value, ahead of Oceania (mostly Australia) at 6.6%. Smaller percentages came from Asia (2.9%) and Africa (0.1%).



For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 1001 for wheat and meslin.

Countries

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2019. Russia: US$6.4 billion (16.7% of total wheat exports) United States: $6.3 billion (16.4%) Canada: $5.4 billion (14.1%) France: $4.4 billion (11.4%) Australia: $2.51 billion (6.6%) Argentina: $2.45 billion (6.4%) Ukraine: $1.6 billion (4.3%) Romania: $1.29 billion (3.4%) Germany: $1.25 billion (3.3%) Kazakhstan: $1 billion (2.6%) Bulgaria: $967.1 million (2.5%) Lithuania: $683.5 million (1.8%) Hungary: $530.8 million (1.4%) Latvia: $473.2 million (1.2%) Poland: $431.5 million (1.1%) The listed 15 countries shipped 93.2% of global wheat exports in 2019 by value.



Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing wheat exporters since 2015 were: Argentina (up 136.9%), Romania (up 67.9%), Russia (up 64.4%) and Bulgaria (up 46.7%).



Five countries posted declines in their exported wheat sales namely: Poland (down -49.4%), Germany (down -48.2%), Australia (down -42.9%), Ukraine (down -26.9%) and Canada (down -13.6%).

Advantages

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for wheat during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s wheat exports and its import purchases for that same commodity. Russia: US$6.4 billion (net export surplus up 66.1% since 2015) United States: $5.8 billion (up 18.9%) Canada: $5.3 billion (down -13.7%) France: $4.3 billion (up 4.2%) Argentina: $2.5 billion (up 136.9%) Australia: $2.4 billion (down -45.5%) Ukraine: $1.6 billion (down -27.2%) Romania: $1.1 billion (up 73.4%) Bulgaria: $952.4 million (up 45.9%) Kazakhstan: $951.2 million (up 40.7%) Lithuania: $650 million (up 32.8%) Germany: $530.9 million (down -62.3%) Hungary: $507.5 million (up 51.5%) Latvia: $378.9 million (up 19.1%) Czech Republic: $370.7 million (down -23%) Russia garnered the highest surplus in the international trade of wheat in 2019. The positive trade balance for wheat confirms Russia’s superior competitive advantage for this important food product category.

Opportunities

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for wheat during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s wheat import purchases and its exports for that same commodity. Turkey: -US$2.2 billion (net export deficit up 109% since 2015) Egypt: -$2 billion (down -20.7%) Italy: -$1.8 billion (up 1.9%) Philippines: -$1.7 billion (up 74.8%) Indonesia: -$1.6 billion (down -21.1%) Japan: -$1.47 billion (down -10.8%) Algeria: -$1.46 billion (down -39.3%) Brazil: -$1.4 billion (up 58.9%) Nigeria: -$1.3 billion (up 2%) Netherlands: -$1.1 billion (up 10.1%) South Korea: -$989.7 million (down -10.5%) Bangladesh: -$979.9 million (down -1.2%) Spain: -$963.1 million (down -7.2%) Morocco: -$960.3 million (up 9.5%) Mexico: -$913.8 million (up 27%) Overtaking Indonesia in 2019, Turkey and Egypt incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of wheat. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Turkey’s and Egypt’s severe competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for wheat-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand among each country’s consumers.

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