The International Grains Council has stepped out of line with other forecasters and raised its estimate for the world wheat crop, despite the wet weather forcing Canadian farmers to abandon millions of acres.

Farmers will harvest 664m tonnes of wheat in 2010-11, the influential intergovernmental group said, adding 4m tonnes to its previous forecast.

The upward revisions followed a series of cuts by other analysts.

The US Department of Agriculture earlier this month cut 3.7m tonnes from its estimate for the world wheat crop, taking it to 668.5m tonnes, an estimate that came before the Canadian Wheat Board stunned markets by forecasting that Canadian plantings of the grain would be the lowest in 39 years.

Rabobank said on Tuesday said that, because of Canada's plight and winterkill rates in the Black Seat states, the USDA estimate was some 8m tonnes too high.

Feed demand 

However, while the IGC acknowledged the threat to Canada's harvest posed by poor sowings, and cut by 1.5m tonnes to 19.2m tonnes its forecast for the country's grain exports, it flagged better hopes for crops in other countries.

"Prospects improved in the US, China, Australia and Iran," the council said.

Nonetheless, it left unchanged its estimate of world inventories at the end of 2010-11, citing the prospect of higher demand for wheat, and indeed other grains, by livestock farmers, notably in Asia.

"Renewed strength in the global animal feed sector in response to rising meat consumption is expected to boost feed use of grains to a record."

Corn harvest

The council also lifted its estimate for world corn production, by 2m tonnes to a record 824m tonnes, citing better hopes for Russian and Ukrainian crops.

However, this was more than offset by a rise of 4m tonnes in the amount of corn expected to be consumed by biofuels plants.

With some other revisions kicking in, the council lowered its estimate for world inventories at the close of 2010-11 by 5m tonnes to 137m tonnes, with the US accounting for the bulk of the decline.