FAO’s latest forecast of global cereal production in 2004 is 1 956 million tonnes, a substantial increase from the previous year. However, despite a modest expected rise in utilization, the new 2004/05 marketing season may lead to a fifth consecutive annual drawdown of global cereal stocks. FAO’s first forecast of global cereal trade in 2004/05 stands at 229.7 million tonnes, 3 percent down from the previous year. The decline mostly reflects,...

World cereal production is forecast to increase in 2004 to 2 131 million tonnes, which would be some 2 percent up from last year and 3 percent above the average of the past five years. The bulk of the increase is expected in wheat, although rice output is also seen to rise significantly. By contrast, production of coarse grains is forecast to decrease marginally. Global cereal utilization is anticipated to...

FAO’s latest forecast for global cereal production in 2003 is 1 874 million tonnes, 2 percent more than in 2002 but still less than the expected utilization in 2003/04, which is forecast at 1 971 million tonnes. As a result, global cereal stocks are expected to be drawn down to 382 million tonnes. World cereal trade is forecast to fall significantly in 2003/04 to 227 million tonnes, the lowest level...

Prospects for world cereal output in 2003 have deteriorated since the previous report in June, following a widespread drought and heat-wave in Europe. As a result, the FAO forecast for world cereal production in 2003 has been reduced sharply, indicating that the amount of global cereal carryover stocks that could be drawn down in 2003/04 will be much larger than expected earlier, and the overall global supply-and-demand situation will be much...

FAO’s latest forecast for global cereal production in 2003 and the first forecast for utilization in 2003/04 indicate that output will remain below the expected level of utilization and stocks will have to be drawn down again in 2004 for the fourth consecutive year. FAO’s forecast for global cereal output in 2003 has been revised upward to 1 914 million tonnes, some 4 percent up from the previous year’s below-average...

FAO’s first forecast of world cereal production in 2003 is 1 895 million tonnes, 62 million tonnes up from the poor 2002 harvest and above the average of the past five years. The outputs of both wheat and coarse grains are forecast to increase by about 4 percent to 591.5 million tonnes and 908 million tonnes respectively, while the rice crop (milled basis) is anticipated to recover by 2 percent...

Global cereal output in 2002 is estimated at 1 838 million tonnes, slightly up from the forecast in December, but still 3.3 percent down from the previous year. However, given the expected expansion in cereal utilization in 2002/03, world cereal stocks for crop years ending in 2003 could plunge to their lowest level since the early 1970s. Prospects for 2003 cereal production are mixed. Early indications for the 2003 wheat crops...

Latest information confirms a sharp drop in global cereal production in 2002, to 1 833 million tonnes. As a result of this, and a marginal rise expected in total cereal utilization in 2002/03, world cereal stocks for crop years ending in 2003 are forecast to plunge sharply, by 110 million tonnes from their opening level, to 466 million tonnes. The number of countries facing severe food emergencies worldwide stands at 39....

The global supply and demand balance for cereals is pointing to a tighter situation in 2002/03 than was anticipated earlier in the wake of deteriorating crop prospects in a number of major producing countries. Based on the production and consumption forecasts for 2002/03, world cereal stocks for crop years ending in 2003 are expected to plunge sharply. The humanitarian crisis in southern Africa is deepening as international response has so...

The new 2002/03 marketing season could mark the beginning of a much tighter supply and demand situation for cereals: opening stocks are smaller than in the previous season, production is forecast to fall and consumption is expected to rise. A total of 31 countries throughout the world are currently experiencing severe food shortages and require international food assistance. A new food crisis has emerged in southern Africa, following two successive...