Reuters — The International Grains Council has raised its forecast for 2025/26 global wheat production with crop outlooks upgraded for Russia, the United States and Argentina.
Why it matters: Wheat prices are at five-year lows
The intergovernmental body, in a monthly report, raised its global wheat production forecast by eight million tonnes to 827 million tonnes, a record high and up 1.1 per cent from the prior season.
An improving outlook for this year’s wheat crops has helped drive down global prices with Chicago wheat futures slumping to a five-year low earlier this month.
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The IGC said latest data had confirmed better than anticipated yields in a number of key producers.
Russia’s wheat crop was forecast to total 86.5 million tonnes, up from a previous projection of 85 million.
The outlook for crops in the world’s top wheat exporter has been boosted by record yields in Siberia.
The IGC also upwardly revised its forecast for the U.S. wheat crop to 54 million tonnes, from 52.4 million, and for Argentina’s production to 22.2 million tonnes from 20.2 million.
Global wheat consumption was raised by just one million tonnes to 820 million, leading to a build up in stocks by the end of the season to a three-year high of 275 million tonnes.
The IGC also said it had kept its 2025/26 world corn (maize) crop outlook at 1.297 billion tonnes, up 4.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Global soybean production in 2025/26 was seen at 428 million tonnes, marginally below the prior season’s 429 million and forecast consumption was expected to climb to 430 million, from 419 million a year earlier.
“Total use is seen at a new peak, while stocks could tighten slightly,” the IGC said.
— Reporting by Nigel Hunt
