World Grain - April 2021 - 13

FAO forecasts record wheat production in 2021
ROME, ITALY - Global wheat production is expected to
reach a new record of 780 million tonnes in 2021, according to a preliminary forecast issued March 4 by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The
record forecast reflects an anticipated rebound in production
in the European Union that is expected to more than offset
weather-impacted production prospects for output in the
Russian Federation.
The preliminary forecast for 2021 was issued along with the
FAO's Food Price Index, which the agency said rose for the
ninth consecutive month in February.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes
in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, averaged 116 points in February, up 2.4% from January
and up 26.5% from February 2020.
The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 125.7 points in
February, up 1.5 points, or 1.2%, from January and 26.3
points, or 26.5%, above its February 2020 level.
" Among major coarse grains, international sorghum prices

increased the most, rising 17.4% in February, up 82.1% above
their values in the corresponding month last year, driven
by ongoing strong demand from China, " the FAO said.
" International maize prices also rose, albeit by only 0.9%
from the previous month. Maize export prices in February
were up 45.5% from the previous year, underpinned by continued strong import demand amidst shrinking export supplies. Wheat export prices remained nearly stable in February,
but up 19.8% from last year's level. International rice prices
also edged up some more, driven by demand for lower quality
Indica and Japonica rice. "
The FAO also noted that new projections for 2020-21 include a 2% increase in global cereal utilization to 2.77 billion tonnes and a 5.5% increase in world trade in cereals to
464 million tonnes. Additionally, global cereal stocks are now
forecast by the FAO to end 2021 at 811 million tonnes, which
would be 0.9% below opening levels. World rice and wheat
stocks are expected to increase, while those of coarse grains
to decline, the FAO said.

Greenfield Louisiana files permits for new terminal
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US - Greenfield Louisiana
LLC of Baton Rouge has filed permit applications to build a
36-silo grain terminal on the west bank of St. John the Baptist
Parish.
According to Greenfield Louisiana, the 248-acre export
terminal would employ 60 people in barge, dock, rail, truck,
storage, processing and elevator operations for wheat, corn
and soybeans.
Filing of the permit applications continues a process
that began last spring, when the Port of South Louisiana
(POSL) requested $25 million in funding from the US

Department of Transportation (DOT) under the 2020 Better
Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD)
Transportation Discretionary Grants program for the port infrastructure project. If approved by the DOT, the POSL would
lease the dock to Greenfield.
The POSL is the largest grain port in the United States, handling more than half of annual US grain exports.
Greenfield Louisiana is an elevator that expects to move
more than 11 million tonnes of agriculture products, primarily
corn, wheat, and soybeans, with some throughput from other
locally-grown specialty crops, to the export market.

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World Grain - April 2021

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