MOSCOW: It is important to note that only 6-7 months ago most experts expected the global wheat production even to decrease in 2017/18 by about 20 million tonnes to 730-731 million tonnes.
Russia has the main contributor for the forecast correction. The harvest of wheat there is now estimated at 85 million tonnes, compared to 83 million tonnes expected one month ago and 72.5 million tonnes harvested in 2016/17. The prospect of wheat production in the EU has deteriorated by 0.9 million tonnes to 151.6 million tonnes compared to the December report, but this is still 6.35 million tonnes more than in 2016/17. Forecast data for other major wheat producing and exporting countries (USA, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Ukraine and Kazakhstan) have not changed with respect to the December indications.
