From Agrimoney:
UN notes grain price watershed as crop hopes rise
The United Nations underlined the May watershed for grain markets as it hiked its forecast for world cereals production by 21.5m tonnes – mainly down to an upgrade to the US corn harvest.The outlook for world grain supplies in 2014-15 has "improved considerably" over the past month, the UN food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization said, upgrading by 10m tonnes to a 13-year high of 576m tonnes its estimate for inventories at the close of the season.The improvement was reflected in a further decline in world food prices in May, including in grains."We went into May with concerns over unfavourable weather conditions, especially in the US, and geopolitical tensions in the Black Sea region," said Abdolreza Abbassian, FAO senior economist."But towards the second half of May, we began to see lower wheat prices following improved weather conditions and the continuation of regular shipping patterns from the Ukraine."The reduced concerns have been reflected in futures markets too, with wheat futures falling by 10 consecutive sessions until Wednesday, its longest losing streak in 20 years, and corn futures also showing heavy losses.'Improved outlook'The FAO lifted by 18.6m tonnes to 1.27bn tonnes its forecast for world output of coarse grains and wheat in 2014-15, nearly all down to an increase in world corn output....MORE
