PARIS: Grain trade association Coceral cut its forecast sharply for this year’s corn (maize) output in the European Union on Wednesday to 48.6 million metric tons, down from 52.7 million projected in July, after hot, dry weather damaged crops.
The new projection for the corn harvest, which is in progress, is 14percent below last year’s level, Coceral said.
The biggest downward revisions among EU countries were for France, with the corn crop now seen at 7.6 million tons against 9.4 million in July, and Hungary, where expected output was cut to 1.9 million from 3.1 million.
Coceral cut its outlook for soft wheat production in the EU plus the UK to 137.5 million tons versus 140.8 million previously, nearly 8percent down year on year, mainly due to a 2.3 million-ton reduction in UK output to 11.3 million tons.
The EU-only soft wheat crop estimate was lowered by 1.1 million tons to 126.2 million, with German and Polish crops suffering more than French from heatwaves, Coceral said.
For rapeseed, estimated EU and UK output in 2026 was nudged up to 21.3 million tons from 21.2 million in July. Less heatwave damage than in other crops and increased planting supported output.
Below are some of Coceral’s estimates for major cereal and oilseed crops covering the EU and UK in millions of tons. The association counted zero corn and sunflower seed production for the UK.
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