# Maize

The world's biggest grain crop by tonnage, grown mostly to feed livestock and, in the United States, to make fuel ethanol.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/

Grains · No. 85

- Not on a critical list
- HHI 1,693 · moderately concentrated
 Grains · Foundation · Matter

The world's biggest grain mostly feeds animals and cars, not people: one bushel in six once went to US ethanol.

Chart: Illustration: Maize

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

First farmed in Central America around 5000 BC, maize is now sown each spring across the US Corn Belt. World output reached 1,218 Mt in 2024.

##### Three things to know

1. World maize output rose about 2.5-fold between 1990 and 2024, from 483 to 1,218 million tonnes, faster than wheat or rice.
2. Four countries, the US, Brazil, Argentina and Ukraine, supplied about 77% of world maize export value in 2024.
3. By 2011 the US ethanol industry was using one in every six bushels of corn grown worldwide.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Spring sowing**Hybrid seed planted in the Corn Belt
2. 2 **Harvest**Combined, dried and sent to elevators
3. 3 **Shipping**Barge, rail and bulk ship
4. 4 **Processing**Feed mill, wet mill or ethanol plant
5. 5 **End uses**Meat, starch, sweeteners and fuel
 Covered in [From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)[How commodities moveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-move/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)[Biorefineries and platform chemicalsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/biorefineries-platform-chemicals/)[Earth's energy flows: sun, wind, water, heat and lifeEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/earths-energy-flows/)[Muscles, wood, water and wind: energy before fossil fuelsEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/energy-before-fossil-fuels/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/maize/links/index.md)