EU Commission cuts 2023 grain harvest compared to the previous month's estimate At the end of July 2023, the EU COM corrected the 2023 grain harvest to just 273.65 million t compared to the previous month's estimate of around 278 million t. With a slightly changed cultivation area, the lower expected yield of only 5.4 t/ha on average is decisive. The wheat harvest is estimated to be around -2 million t lower, barley and corn each by -1 million t. Grain consumption remains largely unchanged at 256.44 million tons. Foreign trade is changed only slightly. The export, mainly wheat, is estimated at almost 48 million tons and the import at 25.6 million tons, mainly maize (Spain). However, the end stocks will be significantly reduced at just under -5 million t . The supply figure falls from just under 20 to 17.5% of end-of-life inventory and thus signals a significantly smaller reserve buffer.
The tendency towards a moderate harvest expectation is confirmed as the development progresses, without a catastrophic loss of production being expected.Information from updated world crop estimates will not be released until the beginning of August. In North America , rain fronts have alleviated the previous drought problem in some growing regions. India , the world's largest rice exporter, has banned the export of white rice for supply reasons. Rice is in competition with wheat.
