In 2009, trade, industry and the Agency for Rural Affairs’ Intervention Unit purchased a total of 2 billion kilos of cereals from farms. Industry used a total of 1.3 billion kilos of domestic and imported cereals.

In 2009, trade, industry and the Agency for Rural Affairs’ Intervention Unit purchased a total of 2 billion kilos of cereals from farms – the same amount as in 2008. Most purchases were made in the third quarter (35%), while the last quarter was the quietest (16%).

Feed barley the top selling cereal on farms
In 2009, trade, industry and the Agency for Rural Affairs’ Intervention Unit purchased just over 900 million kilos of barley, a rise of 14% on 2008. Malting barley accounted for 21%, or almost 200 million kilos, which is about 40 million kilos less than in 2008. 720 million kilos of feed and other barley entered the market in 2009.

550 million kilos of wheat was purchased – the same amount as in 2008. 44% was bread grain and 56% feed grain. Only 27 million kilos of rye was bought from farms, half of the figure for 2008. The reduced amount of rye entering the market was at least partly due to 2009’s poor rye harvest.

A total of 77 million kilos of turnip rape and rape was purchased from farms in 2009. At the end of the year, the combined stocks of turnip rape and rape held by trade and industry totalled about 20 million kilos.

Industrial cereal usage 1.3 billion kilos
Industry used a total of 1.3 billion kilos of domestic and imported cereals in 2009. Just over 400 million kilos were used as food and about 560 million kilos as feed. Cereal use was spread evenly across all four quarters.

Barley usage totalled over 520 million kilos, making it the top cereal. About 150 million kilos of barley was used for malting, about 230 million kilos for feed and about 6 million kilos for food. Industry used about 470 million kilos of wheat, of which about 270 million kilos were used for food and about 190 million kilos for feed. Oat usage was more moderate at 190 million kilos. Most was used for feed (about 140 million kilos) and the rest for food (about 50 million kilos). Just over 90 million kilos of rye were used, and almost entirely for food production. Finland uses significantly more rye than it produces: Finnish rye production totalled about 40 million kilos in 2009.

Trade and industry cereal stocks 600 million kilos
At the end of 2009, trade and industry cereal stocks (not including those held by the Agency for Rural Affairs’ Intervention Unit or the National Emergency Supply Agency) totalled about 620 million kilos: just under 140 million kilos of wheat, about 40 million kilos of rye, about 270 million kilos of barley and just under 170 million kilos of oats.

Background to the statistics
In 2009, the Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Tike, combined two existing sets of statistics (the Statistics on Cereal Flows to Market and Statistics on Cereal Usage and Stocks) to form a new set: Statistics on Cereals Purchased, Used and Stockpiled by Industry and Trade. Previously, data for the Statistics on Cereal Flows to Market was collected once a year, while the Statistics on Cereal Usage and Stocks were updated monthly. The new combined statistics are updated quarterly. The new statistics now include data on turnip rape and rape purchases. Information on the stocks held by trade has also been collected for the first time, and this is now combined with data on the stocks held by industry.

An introduction to the Statistics on Cereals Purchased, Used and Stockpiled by Industry and Trade can be found on the Matilda agricultural statistics service www.agriculturalstatistics.fi. The newssheet Tietosarka contains an article on the redesign and combination of the statistics (in Finnish only): (http://tike.multiedition.fi/tike/tietosarka/2009/joulukuu/teollisuuden_j...)

For more information, contact:
Actuary Sirpa Karppinen, tel. +358 20 77 21341
Head of Statistics Unit Esa Katajamäki, tel. +358 20 77 21237
E-mail addresses are in the format forename.surname@mmmtike.fi