The year 2021 has not been easy for food markets given an abundance of uncertainties, from production to distribution and consumption. Prices kept climbing and even reached record highs for some crops, turning food inflation into a major concern, even in developed countries. Overall, markets continued to show their resilience, with global supplies remaining adequate and logistical bottlenecks proving short-lived. As pressures on global food security keep mounting, markets will hopefully enter more stable waters in the coming year in order to ensure adequate access to food for the most vulnerable.

• Wheat 2021 production trimmed further, mostly on lower estimates for Brazil and the UK, resulting in global production falling by nearly 1 percent from last year’s record.
• Utilization in 2021/22 lowered on weaker feed use expectations, especially in the EU, but still rising by 2.0 percent from the previous season.
• Trade in 2021/22 (July/June) to expand by 2.2 percent from the 2020/21 level, driven by robust demand, especially from the Near East to compensate for reduced harvests.
• Stocks forecast (ending 2022) scaled up m/m but still expected to fall 1.7 percent below opening levels, with most of the drawdown concentrated among major exporters.

• Maize production in 2021 raised on higher-than-earlier projected outputs in Ukraine and the US; global production is currently forecast to surpass last year’s level by 3.6 percent, a new record.
• Utilization forecast for 2021/22 lifted m/m, largely on a faster rise in ethanol production in the US, now resulting in a 2.6 percent growth in world total use of maize.
• Trade in 2021/22 (July/June) to contract from the 2020/21 record by 1.8 percent, underpinned by weaker demand expected from China and Viet Nam.
• Stocks forecast (ending in 2022) scaled up and set to surpass opening levels by 2.5 percent, mostly reflecting higher inventories in China and a partial recovery in the US.

• Rice production in 2021 barely changed m/m, as upward revisions namely for Pakistan and the US compensate for less buoyant output prospects for Thailand and Bangladesh.
• Utilization in 2021/22 still seen reaching a fresh peak, with global per caput food intake envisaged to expand by 0.6 percent in 2021/22.
• Trade in 2022 (January-December) forecast to grow for the third successive year underpinned by a rebound in exports by Thailand, Brazil, Myanmar and Pakistan, while Indian shipments could edge down and those of Viet Nam continue to fall.
• Stocks (2021/22 carry-out) still seen at historical highs, sustained by a fourth successive season of accumulations in the major rice exporters.

• Soybean 2021/22 production forecast raised marginally, with upward revisions for Brazil and India more than offsetting a lower forecast for the US.
• Utilization in 2021/22 trimmed on expectations of lower domestic crush in China, while global consumption is still forecast to grow by about 3 percent from the previous season.
• Trade forecast for 2021/22 (Oct/Sep) scaled down, mainly reflecting smaller import expectations by China.
• Stocks (2021/22 carry-out) lifted further, tied to higher forecasts for Brazil and the US, while global inventories could still fall below the average level.