Brussels, 05/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission's latest short-term forecasts on the agricultural markets, which were published on Wednesday 5 March, show that the cereals harvest is expected to be good in 2014, whilst the production of meat and milk are set to rise.
The prospects for the 2014 cereals harvest are good because the climate conditions over winter have so far been generally favourable, according to the short-term forecasts of the Commission. This, in combination with the good 2013 cereals harvest (+8.3%, to 301.8 million tonnes in total in the EU), should make it possible to build up the stocks a little by the end of the marketing year 2013/14. The stock/use ratio is expected to rise to 12.2% (compared to 10.3% in the previous selling year). Exports of EU cereals could reach a new record level, possibly a volume in excess of 37 million tonnes.
The livestock sector has seen two years in a row of reduced production of beef and pork meat. The forecasts show that in 2014, the production and consumption of these meats is expected to rise by 0.7% and 0.7% respectively (in 2015, a 0.9% increase in production and a 1% increase in consumption are predicted).
As regards the dairy sector, high milk prices in 2013 have “stimulated an increase in milk production” and this increase is likely to continue in the short term, according to the Commission. It predicts an increase in production by 1.5% in 2040 (to 155.1 million tonnes) and 1.6% in 2015. The Commission does not anticipate a sharp increase in production after the end of milk quotas in April 2015, but predicts “new export possibilities on the global markets, particularly for powdered milk and cheese”. (LC)