IGC forecasts world wheat 7m tonnes down on 97

By FWi staff

WORLD wheat production is forecast 7 million tonnes down on the record 1997 harvest at 586m tonnes in the latest International Grains Council report.

This revision in figures is a result of decreased outputs in Argentina, Australia, India, Kazakhstan, Russia and South Africa.

World wheat trade, on the other hand, is forecast 1m tonnes higher, matching last years total of 95m tonnes. This stems from a higher figure in Russia, noted the International Grains Council.

In south-east Asia, “a rise in the estimate for Korea is attributed to heavy purchases of feed wheat, but is offset by a reduction for Indonesia,” says the IGC

Export forecasts for both Argentina and Australia have dropped over the last month. However, those for the EU have risen by 0.5m tonnes as did the American predictions.