GENEVA (Reuters) — World corn production is set to rise to record levels in the year through June 2015, boosting stocks, Dan Basse, president of consultancy AgResource Co, said on Thursday.
Speaking at the AgResource Cereals Europe event in Geneva, Basse estimated global corn output would reach 978.4 million tonnes, up from 967.5 million the year before.
Basse said the combination of stagnating red meat consumption, along with U.S. biofuel consumption peaking in 2014, would lead to a slowdown in corn demand growth, causing stocks to build.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts five billion bushels of U.S. corn will be used for ethanol in fiscal 2015, unchanged from the previous year. The United States is the largest producer and user of corn-based ethanol, an alternative fuel.
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Basse said U.S. per capita red meat consumption is expected to fall in 2014 to its lowest level since 1985, while rising meat prices in China — which had previously been a key market for driving global meat demand growth — could stifle further growth.
This could curb animal feed demand.
Basse said there was potential for combined stocks of corn, wheat and soybeans to hit record levels in fiscal 2015.
Global wheat production was pegged at 713.8 million tonnes in the coming year, up slightly from 712.7 million the year before.
