World corn production will set a record by a distance next season, lifted by a sharp rebound in the US, and sufficient to foster a strong rebuilding of inventories, the International Grains Council said.

The intergovernmental group, in its first estimate for the 2013-14 world corn harvest, forecast a rise in production of 9% to 927m tonnes.

The recovery - of a historically large but not unprecedented rate - will be led by the US, for which output was seen rising by "as much as 30%", sufficient to take it to a record high well above 350m tonnes, equivalent to about 14.0bn bushels.

"Assuming normal weather, US production is projected to rebound sharply," the IGC said.

The estimate for the US revival is smaller than the 35% rebound forecast by the US Department of Agriculture, but above estimates from some private forecasters.

Lanworth, the analysis group, on Wednesday forecast the US corn crop rising by 27% to 13.64bn bushels.

'Inventories to rise'

The IGC said that world consumption in 2013-14 was "also likely to recover from this year's unusual decline", which was forced by a drop in global corn production prompted by drought in the US and Argentina.

"But stocks could still rise in by 19% from the 16-year low forecast for end 2012-13."

At roughly 135m tonnes, inventories would close the season at a four-year high.

Signally, stocks in leading exporting countries, a metric particularly closely watched by investors, will rebuild to their highest in eight years, the council said.

Inventories in exporting countries, as forming the basis for world trade, are viewed as having a particularly large impact on global pricing prospects.

'Little room to rebuild stocks'

The forecasts came as the council, in a monthly briefing, made minor adjustments to its estimates for world grain supply and demand in 2012-13, trimming 1m tonnes from its estimate for inventories at the close of the season.

For 2013-14, the IGC lifted by 1m tonnes to 683m tonnes its forecast for the world wheat crop in 2013-14, a rise of 4% year on year.

World consumption was seen rising at a slightly slower pace, allowing world stocks to increase by 4m tonnes to 182m tonnes.

stuck by an estimate of a 4% rise in output, but said "a recovery in global use will leave little room to rebuild stocks".