
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Corn is the top produced crop in the world. Its high starch content and versatility make it useful in hundreds of products such as food and beverages, biodegradable materials, fuel ethanol and especially animal feed.
The US Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) projects the world will produce 1.172 billion tonnes of corn in marketing year 2022-23, of which 183.58 million tonnes will be exported. The WASDE sees individual countries’ domestic feed production using 743.05 million tonnes of corn, and global ending stocks at 304.53 million tonnes.
These are the Top 10 corn producing nations in the world, according to the September WASDE 2022-23 projections.
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The United States holds the distinction of being the top producer of corn in the world at 354.19 million tonnes and the top exporter, sending 57.79 million tonnes to overseas markets. Domestic consumption is expected to reach 304.81 million tonnes with 132.72 million used for feed.
China, with 1.4 billion people, is expected to grow 274 million tonnes of corn in 2022-23 while domestic use reaches 295 million tonnes. To meet this demand, China will import 18 million tonnes. China’s livestock industry uses 214 million tonnes for feed.
Brazil, South America’s largest nation, will grow 136 million tonnes of corn in 2022-23, according to the WASDE. Brazil will export 47 million tonnes of corn while using 77 million domestically, 65.5 million of that for feed.
The European Union’s 27 member nations are grouped together in the WASDE and are projected to harvest 58.8 million tonnes of corn. The EU is projected to import 19 million tonnes of corn to meet domestic demand of 77.4 million tonnes while using 57 million tonnes for feed.
Argentina is the second-largest corn producer in South America behind Brazil with 55 million tonnes projected in 2022-23. Argentina is also a major world corn exporter, shipping 41 million tonnes while meeting domestic demand of 14 million tonnes that uses 10 million of that for feed.
Ukraine is projected to produce 31.5 million tonnes of corn in 2022-23 while shipping 13 million tonnes to global markets. The Black Sea nation’s domestic consumption is predicted to reach 12.7 million tonnes with 11.5 million tonnes of that total used for feed.
Mexico is expected to grow 27.6 million tonnes of corn in 2022-23 and import 17.7 million tonnes to meet domestic demand. Mexico’s domestic consumption could reach 44.5 million tonnes while feed uses 26.3 million tonnes of that total.
South Africa’s corn production of 17.3 million tonnes in 2022-23 is projected to contribute 3.7 million tonnes in exports to global markets. South Africa uses 7.3 million tonnes for feed out of total domestic consumption of 13.3 million tonnes.
Canada is expected to harvest 14.5 million tonnes of corn in 2022-23. It will import 1.5 million tonnes and export 1.6 million. The third North American country in the Top 10 after the United States and Mexico, Canada is projected to use 14.4 million tonnes for domestic consumption, 9.2 million of that being used for feed.