Chile: Grain and Feed Annual
In MY 2016/17 the Chilean wheat planted area dropped by 10.5 percent to 255,000 hectares (ha), as anticipated droughts caused farmers to plant less. MY2017/18 wheat production is expected to remain flat at 1.4 million metric tons (MMT), as domestic prices remain competitive and producers do not have an incentive to plant more wheat. U.S. wheat exports to Chile reached 373,000 MT in MY2015/16 compared to 186,000 MT in MY2014/15, surpassing Canada as the main supplier. Chile’s corn planted area also decreased in MY2016/17 to 95,000 ha and production is expected to decline to 1.09 MMT, a seven percent decrease over 2015/16. Corn imports increased by 13.3 percent in MY2015/16 over MY2014/15 reaching a total of 1.5 MMT. Competitive U.S. corn prices contribute to its 56 percent import market share and the U.S. is now the number one supplier of corn to Chile.
