by Agrimoney.com
Strategie Grains lifted its forecast for the European Union wheat harvest to a five-year high, citing the impact of improved weather on boosting crops from Britain to Bulgaria.
The French-based analysis group lifted by 2.1m tonnes to 141.6m tonnes its estimate for the European Union wheat crop, the world's biggest, a result which would be the highest since 2008-09 and the third biggest ever.
The upgrade left Strategie Grains notably more optimistic than the International Grains Council, which pegs the crop at 139.4m tonnes, and the US Department of Agriculture, which two weeks ago lifted its forecast to 138.6m tonnes.
The USDA flagged "better yield prospects for a number of countries in the central and south-eastern regions of the EU", including Croatia, Hungary and Romania, besides an increased sowings estimate for the UK.
'Good yields expected'
Strategie Grains too highlighted broad crop improvements, saying that "conditions for crop development have... been very good in most places since mid-June.
"Good yields are expected for the winter crops in most places, although it is still too early to know definitive results in terms of quality."
Harvests upgraded included those in France, Germany and the UK, the EU's top three wheat producing countries, besides Bulgaria, Romania and Spain.
The estimate for average yield for soft wheat, the majority of the overall EU wheat crop, was nudged higher to 5.7 tonnes per hectare.
The EU soft wheat harvest was seen at 133.4m tonnes, 1.9m tonnes higher than previously forecast.
Barley upgrade
Strategie Grains also raised its forecast for the EU barley crop by 1.2m tonnes to 57.3m tonnes, a four-year high, and above a USDA forecast of 56.0m tonnes.
However, the estimate for corn output was trimmed by 100,000 tonnes to 65.9m tonnes, reflected the impact of rains on preventing some sowings in south west France.
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