French analyst Strategie Grains on Thursday sharply raised its forecast for this year's maize crop in the European Union after farmers in central Europe opted to sow maize rather than barley whose crop forecast was lowered.
The French analyst left its 2011 soft wheat crop estimate unchanged but significantly raised its forecast of the bloc's exports next season to 19 million tonnes, based on a high level of North African demand that would mainly benefit EU wheat.
The French analyst forecast the 2011 EU maize crop at 59.5 million tonnes, up 800,000 tonnes from last month and now 8 percent higher than the 2010 output. "The rise (in our estimate) equates to transfers into maize production of crop areas that farmers originally intended to sow with spring barley in central Europe," Strategie Grains said in its monthly report.
The analyst cut its outlook for this year's EU barley crop by 500,000 tonnes to 54.5 million, now only 3 percent higher versus 2010, with the majority of the revision concerning central European countries. Strategie Grains left its 2011 soft wheat crop forecast unchanged at 135.2 million tonnes, up from a revised 126 million tonnes (126.35 million estimated last month) harvested in 2010.
"We have made several adjustments at national levels since last month but these all offset one another," nothing that the most significant change was a 110,000 tonnes increase for Italy due to a higher area than previously forecast.