US flour production in ’25 smallest since 2011

smallest in 14 years. The downturn in annual production represented a reversal from a brief upward move in 2024, when production for the year was up 3.197 million cwts from the year before. The retreat in 2025 completely erased the gain of 2024 and left the aggregate for the year at the smallest level since 411.745 million cwts in 2011. The decrease for the year was not a surprise given that quarterly flour production was smaller than during the year before in each of the first three quarters of the year, falling 0.1% in the first quarter, 1.9% in the second and 1.1% in the third. Fourth-quarter flour production was 104.712 million cwts, down 635,000 cwts, or 0.6%, from 105.347 million cwts in the final quarter of 2024. The fourth-quarter figure was the smallest total for any October-December since 2009, when production was 103.717 million cwts. Flour mills in 2025 operated at 85.2% of six-day capacity, down from 85.8% in 2024 and the lowest annual figure since 83.4% in 2019. ...