North America: Canada, Mexico, the United States.

Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French West Indies, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica and Dep, Leeward-Windward Islands, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands of the U.S.

Other Europe: Albania, Azores, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslavia, Gibraltar, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland.

Former Soviet Union: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

Sub-Saharan Africa: all African countries except North Africa.

East Asia: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Macau, Mongolia,

Taiwan.

South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives.

Southeast Asia: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

Oceania: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea.

Local Marketing Years (LMY): LMY refers to the 12-month period following the main harvest, when the crop is marketed (i.e., consumed, traded, or stored). The year first listed begins a country's LMY for that commodity (2008/09 starts in 2008); except for summer grains in certain Southern Hemisphere countries and for rice in selected countries, where the second year begins the LMY (2008/09 starts in 2009). Key exporter LMY’s are:

For a complete list of local marketing years, please see the FAS website (http://www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/psdAvailability.aspx).

Stocks: Unless otherwise stated, stock data are based on an aggregate of differing local marketing years and should not be construed as representing world stock levels at a fixed point in time.

Consumption: World totals for consumption reflect total utilization, including food, seed, industrial, feed, and waste; as well as differences in local marketing year imports and local marketing year exports. Consumption statistics for regions and individual countries, however, reflect food, seed, industrial, feed, and waste only.

Trade: All PSD tables are balanced on the different local marketing years. All trade tables contain Trade Year (TY) data which puts all countries on a uniform, 12-month period for analytical comparisons: wheat is July/June; coarse grains, corn, barley, sorghum, oats, and rye are Oct/Sept; and rice is calendar year.

EU Consolidation: The trade figures starting from 1999/00 represent EU-27 and exclude all intra-trade. For the years 1960/61 through 1998/99, figures are the EU-15 and also exclude all intra-trade. EU-15 member states' data for grains are no longer maintained in the official USDA database. Data for the individual NMS-10, plus Bulgaria and Romania, exists only prior to 1999/00.

Statistics: (1) Wheat trade statistics include wheat, flour, and selected pasta products on a grain equivalent basis. (2) Rice trade statistics include rough, brown, milled, and broken on a milled equivalent basis. (3) Coarse grains statistics include corn, barley, sorghum, oats, rye, millet, and mixed grains but exclude trade in barley malt, millet, and mixed grains.

Unaccounted: This term includes grain in transit, reporting discrepancies in some countries, and trade to countries outside the USDA database.

The Field Crops and Livestock Branch, Industry and Sector Analysis Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA, Washington DC 20250, prepared this circular. Information is gathered from official statistics of foreign governments and other foreign source materials, reports of U.S. agricultural attachés and Foreign Service officers, office research, and related information. Further information may be obtained by writing the Division or telephoning (202) 720-6590.

Note: The previous report in this series was the Grain: World Markets and Trade Foreign Agricultural Service Circular FG 07-08 July 2008. For further details on world grain production, please see World Agricultural Production Foreign Agricultural Service Circular WAP 08-08 August 2008.

This circular is available in its entirety on the World Wide Web via the Foreign Agricultural Service Home Page. The address is:  http://www.fas.usda.gov