October 13, 2011

France's corn production to be higher than expected

French corn harvest will be more than expected as summer rain boosted production, allowing increased exports, according to FranceAgriMer forecast.

Farmers will harvest 14.75 million tonnes of corn, against 13.8 million tonnes in 2010 and up from last month's forecast of 14 million tonnes, the office said.

Corn futures in Paris have dropped 19% this year, boosting demand for shipments from the EU. Weekly corn export commitments for the 27-nation bloc were 202,515 tonnes in the seven days, the highest level for one week in at least seven years, the EU reported last week.

Corn exports will climb to 6.49 million tonnes from 5.6 million tonnes in the 2010-11 season, FranceAgriMer forecasts. That's up from a previous outlook for shipments of 6.29 million tonnes of the grain.

France's soft wheat harvest will amount to 33.8 million tonnes, more than the 33.4 million tonnes forecast last month and down from 35.7 million tonnes in 2010, the office said.

The smaller harvest and rising domestic use mean French soft wheat exports in the year through June 2012 are forecast to drop to 15 million tonnes from 19.7 million tonnes in 2010-11, the crops office said.

French soft wheat exports outside the EU are expected to slide to 8.5 million tonnes from 12.9 million tonnes in 2010-11.