Poland

Poland’s Low Grain Output to Boost Imports, Prices
Reuters, July 31, 2000

Poland's grain harvest this year will suffer more than expected from bad weather in the past few months, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) said in a long-awaited output forecast released on Monday. If the forecasts prove true, Poland will have to import more grains this year and food prices will be underpinned during the next few months, analysts said. GUS said grain output was likely to shrink to 20.5-21.5 million tonnes in 2000, down by between 14.3 and 18.3 percent compared with 1999, more than the previously expected 10 percent decline. GUS also said in its preliminary harvest estimates that rapeseed output would drop by between 24.9 and 33.7 percent in 2000 to around 750,000 to 850,000 tonnes.