In 2010, cereal industry and traders bought altogether 2.1 billion kilos of cereals from the growers in Finland. In addition, 158 million kilos of turnip rape and rape were traded. The industrial use of domestic and foreign cereals totalled 1.3 billion kilos in 2010. This information can be found in the newly compiled statistics by Tike (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry).

In 2010, altogether 158 million kilos of turnip rape and rape entered the market. The volume doubled from the previous year. 36% of turnip rape and rape was purchased directly from farms during the last quarter.

The increase in the volumes of both rape varieties entering the market resulted from recording-breaking turnip rape crops, due to the nearly doubled area sown to turnip rape and rape. At the end of 2010, industry and trade inventories consisted of almost 40 million kilos of turnip rape and rape.

Feed barley accounted for most of the cereals to enter the market
In 2010, a total of 2.1 billion kilos of cereals entered the market from farms, a year-on-year increase of 0.1 billion kilos. The most active purchasing period was the third quarter, and the quietest was the last quarter of the year.

In 2010, altogether 960 million kilos of barley were bought, a 4% increase from the previous year. The most active period for purchasing barley was the second quarter of the year, and the quietest was the last quarter of the year. The share of malting barley in the total volume of barley entering the market was 20%, i.e. 190 million kilos. The decrease in the volume of malting barley is probably due to the poor malting barley crops in the summer of 2010.

The total volume of wheat entering the market in 2010 was 607 million kilos, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Of the wheat, 58% was bread wheat and 42% feed wheat. The share of bread wheat varies according the quality of wheat crops. In the summer of 2010, approximately two thirds of wheat crops met the quality criteria to be used in bread. For its part, the quality of feed cereals was lower than in the year before. In 2010, the largest share of bread wheat entered the market in the first quarter and feed wheat in the third quarter.

The volume of rye entering the market increased
In 2010, nearly 44 million kilos of rye were purchased from farms, a 60% increase from the previous year. The rye purchases concentrated on the latter part of the year. The reason behind this was probably the rye crops of 2010 exceeding that of the previous autumn. The volume of oats purchased from farms was approximately same as in the previous year.

1.3 billion kilos of cereals used by industry
The industrial use of domestic and foreign cereals totalled 1.3 billion kilos in 2010. Of this, 31% was used for food and 45% for feed. The use of cereals was distributed evenly among the quarters.

The most used cereal was barley, over 560 million kilos in total, out of which, main part was used for feed. The volume of wheat used by industry was approximately 450 million kilos, of which 57% was used for food and 42% for feed. The use of oats by industry was smaller (220 million kilos). The majority of oats was used for feed. The volume of rye used for food was 95 million kilos. The domestic use of rye exceeds its production considerably in Finland.

560 million kilos of cereals stockpiled by industry and trade
At the end of 2010, the inventories of industry and trade consisted of approximately 560 million kilos of cereals, which is 60 million kilos less than in the previous year. At the end of 2010, 33% of cereal inventories was barley, 31% oats, 29% wheat and 7% rye.

Background of statistics
Cereal purchase statistics (statistics about the entry into the market) is collected quarterly from all companies in Finland purchasing cereals or turnip rape / rape directly from farms. Statistics about the use of domestic and foreign cereals is collected quarterly from food and feed industry and other branches of industry using cereals. Statistics about inventories of domestic and foreign cereals and turnip rape / rape is collected semi-annually from all companies that have such inventories at the end of June or December. Statistical tables are published in Matilda, the agricultural statistics service, on the home page of the Statistics on cereals purchased, used and stockpiled by industry and trade.

Further information
Sirpa Karppinen, Actuary, tel. +358 20 77 21341
Esa Katajamäki, Head of Statistics Unit, tel. +358 20 77 21237
The format of our e-mail addresses is firstname.lastname@mmmtike.fi