FAO ups 2007 world coarse grain output forecast

World coarse grains output is expected to hit a record high of 1,051 million tonnes in 2007, driven by demand for maize from the energy sector, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said, revising previous forecasts.
The bulk of a higher than expected 7.1 percent output increase would come from maize, accounting for about 70 percent of the total coarse grain output, FAO said in a statement on Wednesday. As the world sought to combat global climate change, demand for maize-derived bioethanol should boost total industrial use of coarse grains by 9 percent in 2007/08, it said.
The agency has trimmed its forecast for world wheat output to just under 621 million tonnes, up 4 percent from 2006. The downward revision comes after a cold spell in the United States in April, which damaged crops over a large part of the main winter wheat areas, the FAO said.