Prospects on the world cereal market

Abstract

Cereals present a special importance in the world economy, because of their many usages: food for humans and animals, basic material for different processing industries, where final products necessary for humans are obtained (foods, drinks, starch, pastry, pharmaceutical products, etc). Cereals are cultivated all over the continents and their consumption is increasing, especially in poor countries, where they represent 60-75% (rice) from the structure of rations. With time, the global cereal market has increased significantly and the prospects have shown that in 2015, as compared with the year 1996, the world cereal trade will increase by 18% (19 million tons), while the stocks will diminish, resulting in a pressure on the cereal price. These aspects made the authors propose a presentation of the cereal market evolution during 1995-2006 (at world and EU level), as well as of the main prospects for the period 2007-2011.