§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the price of wheat. [185141]
§ Alun MichaelWheat prices rose sharply last year as a response to the lower than expected harvest in central and southern Europe, but have since fallen to more normal levels in response to the gradual improvement in the supply situation and forecasts for the level of the harvest in 2004. In this immediate pre-harvest period, there is a certain amount of price volatility as old stocks are run down and the trade waits for more certainty about the availability and quality of the new harvest. Quotes for feed wheat currently range from £88.50-tonne spot July to £65.50-tonne at harvest.