A European Union (EU) agreement to phase out public intervention purchases of maize over the next three years should reduce costs to manufacturers of this key ingredient, the European Commission has suggested.
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The deal, struck by EU agricultural ministers yesterday (11 June), will reduce intervention purchases to 1.5m tonnes in 2007/08, 700,000 tonnes in 2008/09 and to zero by 2009/10.
Current intervention stock had climbed to 5.6m tonnes, or a massive 40% of total public cereal stocks. Guaranteed intervention prices of EUR101.31 (US$134.93) per tonne have inflated prices, with many maize producers selling into public storage as a commercial choice, because market values were much lower.
