World grain utilization in 2017/18 MY will decrease to 2.6 billion tons

The forecast of global grain utilization has been lowered from the previous month by 2.3 million tons (0.1 percent) to 2 589 million tons; still 26 million tons (1.0 percent) higher than in 2016/17.

This is reported in the FAO Cereal Supply and Demand Brief.

The month-on-month reduction largely stems from a cut in the forecasts of maize and rice utilization, which more than offset a foreseen increase in wheat consumption.

"World wheat utilization in 2017/18 is set to reach an all-time high level of 734 million tons, up 0.5 percent (3.4 million tons) from the previous month and now 0.3 percent above the 2016/17 estimated level. The increase from last month mostly reflects higher forecasts for industrial use, whereas the expansion from 2016/17 is largely attributed to a 1.1 percent projected growth in the food consumption of wheat," the report states.

Total utilization of coarse grains in 2017/18 is currently pegged at 1 352 million tons, down 0.2 percent (2.0 million tons) from last month but still 1.4 percent (19 million tons) above the 2016/17 level. The decrease from September reflects some reductions in the forecasts of feed use of maize in Egypt, the Russian Federation and the United States. The strong overall expansion from the previous season remains largely driven by a continued brisk feed demand from the livestock sector.

Reference: the forecast of world grain production in 2017 has been raised slightly since last month to 2 612 million tons, 6.8 million tons (0.3 percent) above the 2016 record.