OTTAWA, CANADA — Canadian wheat exports to China for the August through December period in the 2018-19 grain marketing year were 74% ahead of the three-year average for that period, according to a Feb. 28 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA said total Canadian wheat exports during that period were 1.5 million tonnes, or 22% higher than the same period in 2017-18, bolstered by the record-high exports to China of 600,000 tonnes.

“For the first four months of 2018-19, Indonesia, China and Japan were the three largest export destinations for Canadian wheat,” the USDA said.

The USDA noted that Chinese imports of U.S. wheat during that period were nil. The United States and China are engaged in a trade war that started last July.

Meanwhile, Canada exported 1.1 million tonnes of durum in the first four months of 2018-19, which was 25% below the five-year average.

“Durum exports to Italy have not recovered from Italian country-of-origin labeling measures imposed in July 2017,” the USDA said.

In 2018-19, production of all wheat in Canada increased 6% from the previous year to 31.8 million tonnes, about 1% above the five-year average, according to the USDA.

It projected that 2018-19 wheat ending stocks in Canada would be lowest in 10 years.