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European corn production declines could shift global demand

A market analyst says tightening global corn supplies could create additional opportunities for U.S. exports.  

Jeff Peterson with Heartland Farm Partners says the ongoing drought in Europe opens the door for new possibilities for nontraditional customers. “We continue to see report after report that Europe is lowering its production, particularly France. If they have to continue to ramp up imports, we’re not saying that corn from the U.S. is going into France. The first place it would come from is Ukraine.”

But, he tells Brownfield, “The problem we run into in Ukraine is that they could rail it in. That’s assuming that Russia isn’t going to do something to the rail lines. They could even bring it out of the Black Sea, but we know there are some real problems there because of the attacks Russia has had on Ukraine.”

Peterson says that means countries will have to source corn from different places to fill supply gaps.