FAO revises world grain harvest slightly upwards to July 23 estimate The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has revised its July global grain estimate upwards in its latest September 23 edition . The total harvest including rice is expected to be +0.8% higher than last year. Feed grain, with a focus on corn, contributed significantly to this with an increase of +2.85%. An increase of +1.2% is also expected for rice. In contrast, the global wheat harvest is estimated to be -2.5% lower than last year. The FAO estimates the global wheat harvest at 781 million t (previous year 802 million t). In the July23 report, people were still more pessimistic about the weather conditions in various growing regions. Downward revisions were made for Canada, China and the EU-27 due to unfavorable weather conditions. In contrast, the harvests in the USA, India and Ukraine were set to be somewhat larger.In the case of feed grain , the production cuts in the USA and the EU-27 are more than offset by significantly better harvest expectations for corn in Brazil and Ukraine. The global increase in grain and rice consumption is primarily due to food and industrial consumption (biofuels), while feed use did not result in any significant changes due to reduced animal populations. The global supply situation , measured by the 30.5% final stock compared to consumption, changes only slightly (previous year 30.6%). Nevertheless, market and price developments remain tense given the developments in Ukraine and the El Niño weather situation. Even minor market disruptions can contribute to significant price changes.
