US flour production up 835,000 cwts in quarter

Flour production in the first quarter of 2025 was 106.367 million cwts, up 835,000 cwts, or 0.8%, from 105.532 million cwts in January-March 2024, according to data issued May 1 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Department of Agriculture. It was the fifth straight quarter flour outturn exceeded production of the year before.

First-quarter flour production this year was down 964,000 cwts, or 0.9%, from 107.331 million cwts in the last quarter of 2024.

Based on a six-day week, mills produced 1.4 million cwts of flour per day in the first quarter of 2025, up 1.371 million from a year earlier and 1.394 million cwts in the final quarter of 2024.

US flour mills during the first quarter operated at 87.4% of six-day capacity, up from 85.2% in January-March 2024 and topping 87.1% in October-December.

Daily flour production capacity of US flour mills in the first quarter was 1,601,217 cwts, down 6,825 cwts, or 0.4%, from a revised 1,608,042 cwts in the first quarter of last year. Capacity in January-March 2024 was revised upward by 2,656 cwts. First quarter capacity was left unchanged from October-December 2024. The latter figure was revised upward 2,700 cwts.         

Production of semolina in the first quarter of 2025 was 8.373 million cwts, up 335,000 cwts, or 4.2%, from 8.038 million cwts a year earlier and up 123,000 cwts, or 1.5%, from 8.25 million cwts in the fourth quarter of last year.

Flour production ex-semolina was 97.994 million cwts in January-March, up 500,000 cwts, or 0.5%, from 97.494 million a year earlier but down 1.087 million cwts, or 1.1%, from 99.081 million cwts in the prior quarter.Whole wheat flour production in the first quarter was 4.494 million cwts, down 192,000 cwts, or 4.1%, from 4.684 million cwts a year earlier.

This article has been republished from The World Grain.