Coceral sees EU + UK 2021 soft wheat crop rebounding to 143mn T

PARIS: Grain trade association Coceral on Wednesday forecast soft wheat production in the European Union and Britain would rise next year to 143.0 million tonnes (mn t) from the 127.9mn t estimated in 2020.

The rebound should be driven by higher expected plantings and yields in France, Germany, Britain and the Balkan countries after adverse weather affected the last crop, Coceral said in its first outlook for next year's harvest.

This year's wheat harvest was notably reduced by rain-disrupted sowing followed by spring drought, but field conditions for 2021 crops have so far been more favourable.

The estimate of 2020 soft wheat production had been revised down from Coceral's previous forecast of 129.2mn t in September.

For barley, next year's output in the EU's 27 countries and Britain was projected to fall to 61.5mn t from 63.1mn t expected this year.

Spanish barley production is expected to drop following a bumper crop in 2020 and spring barley sowing to decline sharply in Britain due to an increased winter grain area, offsetting bigger anticipated harvests in Germany and France, Coceral said.

This year's estimated EU and British barley production was revised up from the 61.3mn t expected by Coceral in September.

For maize (corn), production was seen marginally higher next year at 63.1mn t, compared with an unchanged 2020, estimate of 62.8mn t.

In oilseeds, the EU and UK rapeseed crop was projected at 17.8mn t in 2021, up slightly from 16.9mn t expected this year, supported by larger anticipated crops in Germany, France, the UK, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, Coceral said.