International Grains Council has slashed its estimate for global wheat and maize output, but kept its forecast for global rice production largely unchanged. The council has pegged global wheat output in 2017-18 at 757.1 mln tn, marginally lower from 757.4 mln tn projected a month ago, mainly due to a smaller crop in the European Union, it said in its monthly report. The likely fall in output in the EU is expected to be largely offset by higher production estimates for Argentina, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The agency kept global wheat carryover stocks estimate largely unchanged at 254.5 mln tn, but decreased consumption forecast to 742.9 mln tn from 743.6 mln tn projected a month ago. Global wheat stocks may, however, come down in 2018-19 as both area and average yields are likely to fall