Soft wheat production in the European Union is expected to fall by about 2 percent this year to 126.76 million tonnes, EU grain lobby Coceral said on Friday in its first forecast for this year's harvest. Maize and oilseed output in the 27-nation bloc is also expected to be down on last year, Coceral said, but barley production is expected to rise to 54.03 million tonnes in 2012 compared with 51.72 million last year.
Grain production in much of Europe was negatively affected by frost damage earlier this year, but the European Commission has predicted that overall losses will be offset by an increase in average yields for soft wheat and barley.