EC cuts the corn production forecast due to low harvests in Romania, France, Bulgaria and Hungary

The European Commission reduced by 10% the estimates for this year’s corn harvest in the EU bloc, the second consecutive decrease, due to the severe drought. The reduction in the forecast comes because of lower expectations regarding the harvests in Romania, France, Bulgaria and Hungary, the EC informs, quoted by Reuters.

The production of usable corn in the EU, in the 2022/23 season, will be 59.3 million tons, down from a level of 65.6 million tons predicted last month.

The maize crop has been severely hit by heat waves and by what is expected to be Europe’s worst drought in at least 500 years. The European Commission has already reduced estimates for the corn harvest by almost six million tons, or 8%.

Following the lower harvest, the EU executive raised the bloc’s forecast for maize imports in the 2022/23 season to 20 million tonnes from last month’s 16.5 million tonnes, and downgraded its forecast for EU exports of corn to four million tons, from five million tons.

On the other side, the Community Executive revised upward the forecast for the production of common wheat usable in the EU in the 2022/23 season to 126 million tons, from 123.9 million tons estimated in July. The projections regarding the exports of the common wheat community bloc were maintained at 36 million tons.