Grain (Hansard, 7 February 1990)

§ Mr. Ralph Howell
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many days' supply of grain are currently in store in the United Kingdom(a) in intervention storage and (b) in all storage; and what were the figures for each of the past three years.

§ Mr. Curry
United Kingdom intervention stocks of cereals at the end of January 1990 represented around 11 days' supply compared with 21 days, 20 days and 52 days at the end of January 1989, 1988 and 1987 respectively.
The latest available information on the quantity of grain in commercial storage is in the form of estimates of stocks of wheat, barley and oats at 31 December 1989. Adding these estimates to the intervention stocks at the time gives total storage figures representing about 267, 282, 281 and 324 days' supply for December 1989, 1988, 1987 and 1986 respectively.

§ Mr. Ralph Howell
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest estimate of the stocks of grain which will be in store at the end of June 1990(a) in Britain, (b) in the European Economic Community and (c) in the world, expressed in tonnes and days' supply; and what is the latest estimate of the stocks of grain at the present time in (a) Britain (b) the European Economic Community and (c) in the world expressed in tonnes and days' supply.
708W

§ Mr. Curry
Current estimates of cereals likely to be in store in the United Kingdom and the European Community as a whole at the end of the 1989–90 marketing year on 30 June 1990 are as follows:

Million tonnes Days' supply

United Kingdom 3 55

EC 26 70

These figures are based on the Commission of the European Communities' balance sheet for cereals.
The International Wheat Council's estimate of world stocks of grain is an aggregate of national figures based on different definitions of marketing years and therefore does not relate to a particular date. However, the council's latest estimate for world stocks for the end of the 1989–90 crop year is 225 million tonnes or around 60 days' supply.
The latest estimate of current stocks of grain in the United Kingdom is for 31 December 1989 when the total was 15 million tonnes, representing about 267 days' supply. Estimates for the European Community and the world are not available.