MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — The Australian Wheat Board’s (AWB) A$15 early commitment premium for the 2012-13 AWB Wheat Pools will close on Aug. 10 following good support from Australian farmers.

AWB’s Richard Williams said the support for the A$15 premium contract was good as farmers sought to lock in premiums and many farmers see AWB pools as an important part of their wheat marketing program.

“We are considering offering another contract in September with a A$10 a tonne premium which gives farmers a later delivery window,” Williams said. “The level of the premium represents the value we believe we can extract from forward derivative and currency markets via structured hedge programs, and greater forward planning for logistics efficiency.”

In response to farmer feedback AWB will provide guaranteed payment dates for the 2012-13 AWB Wheat Pools to add some certainty to famers’ budgeting plans and has brought forward the finalization date of the pools to the end of February 2014.

The current 2012-13 Estimated Pool Returns remain unchanged, with benchmark grade APW2 forecast at A$350 a tonne (FOB, excl GST) and noodle grade ANW1 at A$355 a tonne (FOB, excl GST) in the Western pool, APW1 at A$345 a tonne (FOB, excl GST) in the Eastern pool and APW1 at A$340 (FOB, excl GST) in the South Australian pool.

AWB encourages farmers to check the AWB website and familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions for its 2012-13 season wheat pools.