August 25, 2011

EU wheat production forecast adjusted down

EU, the world's biggest growing region for wheat, saw its 2011 wheat output forecast revised down by 0.4% to 136.5 million tonnes by the EU crop monitoring agency MARS late Tuesday (Aug 23).

Wheat output in the 27-nation bloc is forecast 2.1% lower than last year's but still 1.3% higher than the previous five years' average, MARS added.

Soft wheat output is forecast at 128.5 million tonnes, while durum wheat is seen at eight million tonnes, the agency said.

The drop in production reflects a decrease in acreage and crop yields, which fell to 5.32 tonnes per hectare from a previous forecast of 5.36 tonnes per hectare due to adverse weather conditions.

According to a report from the USDA released on Monday (Aug 22), abundant rains in July damaged wheat quality.

Reduced production was reported for Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands among other countries, the USDA said.

Global wheat production for the 2011-12 marketing year was forecast 9.7 million tonnes higher at 672 million tonnes this month as a more positive outlook for crops in the former Soviet Union, India, China more than offset falls in Argentina, the US and Mexico, the USDA added.