EU: Malting barley S&D seen as unusually tight

The malting barley supply & demand picture in the EU looks unusually tight, H. M. Gauger GmbH analysts said in their November report.

Market prices have increased by EUR 10-15 per tonne within one month.

France concentrates on China business and will only be competitive to nearby destinations in the EU.

The U.K. may become a “third country”, and its surplus of quality barley is negligible anyway.

Luckily crops were good in the eastern part of the EU and along the Mediterranean, any imports from Western Europe will be small. It leaves Denmark and Sweden to cover large parts of the Belgian, Dutch, German and possibly also Irish import demand.

In all countries the malting premium is so low that much good barley has been lost to the feed sector since harvest time. High prices of feed wheat and maize support feed barley markets.

Right now most farmers have totally withdrawn from markets. Markets are firm at present and look steady to friendly for the coming months.

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