In its first forecast of this year’s crops, the International Grains Council sees “a sharp fall” in the global corn crop, to 941 million tonnes, down 49 million tonnes from last season. Overall, global grain production would drop by 3 percent. The smaller crop will put a damper on the use of grain as livestock feed, but the stockpile worldwide will shrink, “led by the major exporters, where maize [corn] inventories are seen dropping by almost one-quarter,” said IGC in its Grain Market Report. The corn “carry-over” at the end of the marketing year would equal 18 percent of annual use — a nine-week cushion — down 2 percentage points from this year.
IGC, based in London, forecast world wheat production this year at 709 million tonnes, compared to 719 million tonnes in 2014/15. Even with the smaller crop, wheat supplies would remain ample, with a stockpile at the end of the trade year equal to a three-month supply.