Key facts
- US flour production fell 1.3% year over year to 104.863 million cwt in the third quarter of 2026, per USDA NASS.
- Daily milling capacity rose 1.6% to 1.629 million cwt, while capacity utilization fell to 83.6% from 86.1%.
- Wheat ground by US mills fell 1.9% to 227.003 million bushels in the third quarter.
- Semolina production dropped 6% to 7.222 million cwt, the sharpest decline among flour types.
US flour production fell 1.3% year over year to 104.863 million hundredweight (cwt) in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest July-September volume in 20 years, according to National Agricultural Statistics Service data from the US Department of Agriculture published November 2. The comparable low was 104.859 million cwt in 2006.
Daily milling capacity rose 1.6% to 1.629 million cwt, but capacity utilization fell to 83.6% from 86.1% a year earlier. The second-quarter rate was 82.7%, the weakest of any quarter in 25 years apart from April-July 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak began.
Wheat ground by US mills fell 1.9% to 227.003 million bushels. Millfeed output fell 2% to 1.63 million short tons. Semolina production dropped 6% to 7.222 million cwt, while other flour types declined 0.9% to 97.641 million cwt.
The primary block, dated November 5, 2026, reported that outturn was down in seven of the last eight quarters.