COCERAL revises EU crop forecast downward

In its third forecast of the 2018 European Union grain and oilseeds crop, COCERAL revised down its total to 283.5 million tonnes from its early June figure of 299.1 million tonnes.
 

That would be far below last year’s total of 300.2 million tonnes as the region this year has been dealing with abnormally hot and dry weather.
 

COCERAL made a downward revision to this year’s E.U. wheat crop, projecting it at 129.9 million tonnes compared to its June projection of 138.8 tonnes and well below last year’s total of 141.9 million tonnes.
 

Reductions in wheat output are mainly in Germany, France, the U.K. and Scandinavia.
 

COCERAL revised the E.U.’s 2018 barley production to 57.4 million tonnes from 60.8 million tonnes in its June forecast, with reductions mainly seen in Germany, France and Scandinavia. Last year the E.U. produced 58.3 million tonnes of barley.
 

COCERAL forecasts E.U. corn output at 58.9 million tonnes, down from 60.3 million tonnes in June, with upward revisions in the Balkan countries more than offset by lower numbers in Germany and France. In 2018 the E.U. produced 60.7 million tonnes of corn.
 

The rapeseed production forecast for the E.U. was revised significantly lower from 21.1 million tonnes to 19.4 million tonnes. That’s well below last year’s total of 21.9 million tonnes.
 

COCERAL is the European association representing the trade in cereals, rice, feedstuffs, oilseeds, olive oil, oils and fats.