Global grain utilization in MY 2017/18 increased by 3 MT

World cereal utilization in 2017/18 is currently forecast at nearly 2 603 million tons, up 35.7 million tons (1.4 percent) from 2016/17 and also 3 million tons above the December forecast.

"The increase from December mostly reflects upward adjustments made to the feed use of coarse grains (mostly in China, EU, Mexico and the Russian Federation), more than offsetting a significant downward revision to the non-food use of wheat (mainly in the EU and the Russian Federation)," the message says.

Global wheat utilization in 2017/18 is forecast to reach around 734 million tons, down 6 million tons from December and only 1.5 million tons (0.2 percent) above the 2016/17 estimated level.

"The increase from the previous season is now smaller than it was anticipated earlier, primarily because of lower demand for feed wheat in view of ample supplies of cheaper coarse grains in global markets. Food use of wheat, however, is still projected to increase by 1.1 percent, to almost 504 million tons," analysts note.

By contrast, the FAO forecast for total utilization of coarse grains in 2017/18 has been raised to 1 365 million tons, 8.5 million higher than in December, mostly on upward revisions to the feed use of maize and barley. At this level, world utilization of coarse grains would be some 28 million tons (2.1 percent) above the 2016/17 estimated level, with feed use reaching an all-time high of 764 million tons, up 1.8 percent from the 2016/17 estimated level, with the largest increases projected for China, Brazil, EU and Mexico.

"Global rice utilization is forecast to sustain an annual 1.2 percent growth and reach 503.7 million tons in 2017/18, some 700 thousand tons higher than the December forecast. The expansion is foreseen to be mostly driven by a steady increase of food use, while other end-uses are projected to remain largely stable compared with last year’s levels," the message says.

Earlier it was reported that Ukraine from the beginning of MY 2017/18, as of January 31, 2018, exported 23.95 million tons of grain, which is 2.46 million tons less than over the same period last year.