Canadian wheat faces tougher fight for markets
Prairie wheat farmers are facing global competitors who are matching price and closing the gap on quality, making consistent supply, reliable market access and ongoing technical support essential to keep customers and protect premiums.
Maintaining export markets now depends as much on technical support, deep customer relationships and sustained in-market engagement as it does on grain quality, particularly in fast growing regions such as Southeast Asia and Central America.
Global wheat markets are highly competitive, said David Drozd of AgChieve Grain Marketing Advisory Services.
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“Canadian farmers grow a high-quality product, but to be able to sell our wheat for top dollar, it is important to recognize what our customers are looking for and to be able to meet their needs with a consistent product they can depend on,” he said.
WHY IT MATTERS: As global competition tightens, Canada’s wheat sector is leaning on customer support, training and market diversification to protect sales for farmers.
Canada exports wheat to more than 80 countries and remains a major supplier of high-protein milling wheat, but strong competition from Australia, the United States, Brazil and Black Sea exporters is increasingly influencing pricing, market access and how Canadian wheat is sold overseas.
Canada holds about 60 per cent of the Central American market, but U.S. wheat continues to compete hard for those same sales.
“This is a very competitive market,” said Leif Carlson, vice-president of markets and trade with Cereals Canada.
Technical support
Buyers are looking for more than just grain. They also want support, consistency and help using Canadian wheat in their mills.
“Our role at Cereals Canada (is) to provide technical support to millers, bakers and others that are using our premium wheats, whether it’s troubleshooting, providing more technical information for them or helping them in other ways,” said Elaine Sopiwnyk, vice-president of technical services.
Training, technical engagement
That support can influence buying decisions. In Central America, one milling company increased its use of Canadian wheat significantly after participating in training programs.
“He learned so much about Canadian wheat and the system supporting the quality and the regulatory system around that as well,” said Lisa Nemeth, director of market support and training.
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“So since then, he has increased purchases of Canadian wheat by over 600 per cent.”
Freight, proximity challenges
The same pressures are showing up in Southeast Asia, where nearby suppliers often win business on freight and price.
In Vietnam, noodle makers often choose Australian wheat because it’s easier and more reliable to bring in, and it mills into a flour that works well for their noodles.
“One of the reasons why Australian wheat is chosen is because of the proximity between Australia and Vietnam, meaning that shipping logistics become quicker and easier,” Sopiwnyk said.
Low-cost competitors
Cheaper wheat from places such as Ukraine and Brazil is also starting to win more business in some markets, especially where it’s being used for livestock feed.
Even with those pressures, demand for wheat products is still climbing in a lot of regions, mainly because populations are growing, more people are moving to cities and incomes are rising.
In the Philippines, Canadian wheat shipments hit their highest level in 10 years in 2025, and countries such as Ecuador are still heavily dependent on imported wheat to make bread and pasta.
Importance of rules
Even so, access to markets can shift quickly. Vietnam cut back sharply on Canadian wheat imports after putting in place plant health rules tied to Canada thistle and only reopened the market in 2023 once those rules were changed.
That situation shows how important it is to keep trade relationships strong and stay on top of regulatory risks, according to Drozd. It’s also one of the reasons industry groups are putting more focus on having a wider mix of markets.
“From my perspective, the best thing to come out of the trade war is Canada realizes it needs to diversify its trading partners and not be so heavily reliant on one,” Drozd said.
Cereals Canada is focusing on building markets in a planned way, working across core buyers, secondary markets and newer emerging ones, depending on where the growth opportunities are and what customers are looking for, Nemeth said.
“We are strategic … we work very closely with our members to determine the priorities.”
Source: producer.com