French consultancy Strategie Grains on Thursday lifted its forecast for the 2014 grain maize (corn) crop in the European Union to a record 71.3 million tonnes due to large harvests expected in key producers France, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. The estimate was 3.3 million tonnes above last month's and 11 percent above the crop harvested in 2013.
"These expected results reflect the mostly good conditions at planting time and lack of drought-stress during this year's growth cycle, which were very beneficial for grain maize plant development," it said in a report. Strategie Grains also raised its estimate for this year's soft wheat crop in the 28-member bloc for the fifth month in a row.