Rome, Dec 6 (IANS/AKI) This year will see an all-time record cereal harvest of 2,714 billion tonnes, 0.4 per cent higher than previously forecast and a 2.1 per cent increase from 2018, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday.

The latest upward revision, contained in the new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief released on Thursday, reflects higher-than-previously predicted coarse grain yields in China, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

World output of coarse grains including maize is now forecast at 1.433 billion tonnes, marginally short of the record level registered in 2017, according to the new report.

After an upward revision for the European Union, global wheat production in 2019 is now forecast to rise by 4.8 percent from 2018 to reach 766.4 million tonnes. World rice production is likely to reach 515 million tonnes, a mere 0.5 percent drop from the record set in 2018, with Egypt, Madagascar and Nigeria all poised to spearhead a rebound for African rice production this season, according to the report.

FAO's world cereal utilisation forecast for 2019/20 stands at 2.709 billion tonnes, up around 21 million tonnes from the previous season. World cereal stocks at the close of seasons in 2020 are now expected to reach 863 million tonnes. At this level, the global cereal stock-to-use ratio would approach a relatively high level of 31 percent, underscoring a comfortable global supply situation.

World trade in cereals in 2019-2020 is forecast at 416 million tonnes, some 1.1 percent higher than in 2018/19, said the report.

--IANS/AKI

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