SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO (9 February)
Latest reports indicate that winter cereals, mainly wheat and barley, have been planted on similar areas to last year and crops are in satisfactory conditions. Last year a record harvest was collected, now estimated at 9.7 million tonnes compared with 5.5 million tonnes in 2003. Provided that favourable weather conditions prevail, a repeat of last year’s harvest is a real possibility. Last year’s harvest included some 2.7 million tonnes of wheat, 6.5 million tonnes of maize and 340 000 tonnes of barley. Aggregate cereal exports for the 2004/05 marketing year is estimated at 710 000 tonnes and imports for the same period is estimated at 313 000 tonnes.