31/07/2007

Commission publishes prospects for agricultural markets and income 2007-2014

The Prospects for agricultural markets and income 2007-2014 cover cereals, oilseeds, sugar, meat, eggs, milk and the main dairy products. The medium-term projections depict a favourable outlook for the EU cereal markets with largely balanced markets. The phasing out of maize intervention would reduce the risks of regional imbalances and public stocks in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The sugar markets are characterised by growing internal and world markets with the main risks related to the slow take-up of restructuring as well as the high level of stocks which would weigh heavily on the sugar industry post 2010. The poultry and pig meat sector should also exhibit relatively favourable medium-term perspectives, however with a slower growth than in the last decade. Beef production, on the other hand is expected to fall as a consequence of the CAP reform and the declining dairy herd, leading to the widening of the trade deficit. The market balance for the major dairy products is expected to improve further over the medium term, with increasing cheese production and consumption, but lower availabilities of butter and SMP. The medium-term income projections display a rather favourable outlook as the EU-27 agricultural income would grow by 21 % between 2006 and 2014 in real terms and per labour unit (9.9 % in the EU-15, 24.9 % in the EU-10 and 71.8 % in the EU-2).

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