ROME: The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) updated its forecast for global cereal production in 2024, now pegging it at 2 854 million tonnes, a new all-time high.

The Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, issued by FAO Friday, attributed its raised projections to a better harvest outlook for maize in Argentina and Brazil as well as Türkiye and Ukraine, which will offset downgrades to the outlook for Indonesia, Pakistan and several Southern African countries. The wheat production forecast has also been raised based on better prospects in Asia, notably Pakistan, which should outpace an expected decline in the Russian Federation due to inclement weather in major wheat producing areas earlier in the season.

Global rice production is projected to reach a record 535.1 million tonnes.

World cereal total utilization in 2024/25 is forecast to rise to 2 856 million tonnes, up 0.5 percent from the previous year, led by rice and coarse grains.

World cereal stocks are forecast to expand by 1.3 percent in 2025, leaving the global cereal stocks-to-use ratio in 2024/25 nearly unchanged at 30.8 percent.

FAO’s forecast for international trade in total cereals remains unchanged at 481 million tonnes, representing a 3.0 percent decline from 2023/24.