Despite Spain’s Boost Strategie Grains Still Predict A Lower EU Wheat Crop
Strategie Grains updated its prediction for how much wheat Europe will produce this year. They think Spain’s wheat harvest will be good, but heavy rain in other places means the overall harvest will be much smaller than last year.
People who trade grain are keeping an eye on Europe’s harvest because it affects the grain market. Strategie Grains’ predictions about Europe’s harvest are important to these traders.
Europe is one of the biggest sellers of wheat and buyers of maize in the world. If Europe produces less wheat, it might not sell as much abroad. This could make Russia, which sells a lot of wheat, even more important in the global market.
The size of Europe’s harvest also affects how much grain it buys from Ukraine. European farmers aren’t happy about this because it means they have more competition.
Key Quote
Strategie Grains said, “There’s been too much rain in France, and Bulgaria and Romania haven’t had enough. Spain’s doing okay for now, but it’s still too early to tell how good the harvest will be.”
The Numbers
Strategie Grains thinks Europe will produce 121.8 million metric tonnes of soft wheat this year. That’s a little more than they thought in March, but still over 3% less than last year.
For barley, they think Europe will produce 52.5 million metric tons, which is 10.5% more than last year because of better weather.
They predict Europe’s maize crop will be about 63.4 million metric tons, slightly less than they thought in March but still higher than last year.
Apart from too much rain in some parts of Europe, there’s also not enough rain in others.
Because of the rain, some farmers might switch to planting more maize instead of wheat and barley. But since maize prices aren’t great, some might try growing different crops this spring.
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