* Forecast

With global grain consumption increasing by an estimated 30 million tonnes annually, the growth in demand has continued to outstrip the growth in production. In seven of the last eight crop years, grain production has fallen short of demand. The United States Department of Agriculture projects that the 2007/2008 crop year will extend the string to eight out of nine years and the world's grain to stocks ratio will reach a record-low of 14.1 percent.