EU sees soft wheat crop rising to 143mn T in 2017/18

PARIS: The European Commission forecast that usable soft wheat production in the 28-country European Union would reach 143.0 million tonnes in 2017/18, up 6.5 percent from 134.3 million this season.

In its first projections for the next cereal crop season, the Commission forecast that EU soft wheat exports would rise to 28.9 million tonnes in 2017/18 from an expected 24.0 million in 2016/17.

EU soft wheat stocks at the end of 2017/18 were seen at 10.2 million tonnes, little changed from 10.3 million forecast for the end of the current season.

The Commission projected the EU's 2017/18 barley crop at 62.7 million tonnes, up 5.0 percent, and maize production at 66.6 million tonnes, up 10.3 percent.