December 12, 2022

FAO lowers forecast for 2022's global cereal production

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) forecast for world cereal production in 2022 has been cut by 7.2 million tonnes this month, and is now pegged at 2,756 tonnes, 2.0% (57 million tonnes) lower year-on-year.

By comparison, world cereal production grew by an average of 56 million tonnes per year in the last three years. This month’s downgrade mainly concerns maize and, albeit by a smaller amount, wheat production.

Global coarse grain production in 2022 is pegged at 1,462 million tonnes following an almost five-million-tonne cut to the forecast, and is now seen to decline by 3.1% compared to 2021. The recent reduction principally reflects lower maize harvest prospects in Ukraine, due to the impact of the war in the country.

Global wheat production in 2022 has been lowered by 2.7 million tonnes this month down to 781.2 million tonnes; nevertheless, it remains a record high.

The month-on-month cutback almost entirely concerns Argentina, where prolonged dry weather conditions are impairing yields.

Global rice production in 2022 remains forecast to fall 2.4% below the 2021 all-time record to an overall volume of 512.8 million tonnes (milled basis).

- FAO