EU: Barley exports in July-January slightly drop from last season’s level

EU’s total barley crop hardly changed from 2019 to 2020, but there was an internal shift of 3 mln tonnes from the exporter France to the importer Spain. Therefore exports to-date (July 2020 – January 2021) dropped from 4.4 to 3.8 mln tonnes, imports from 500 to 100 thousand tonnes, H. M. Gauger GmbH said in their February report.

Corn imports to-date were only 9.5 mln vs. 12.8 mln tonnes last year.

The EU Commission expects 1 mln tonnes more of feed barley use.

The export pattern for EU barley has changed: China became the No. 1 destination with 1.4 mln vs. 0.8 mln tonnes last year, Saudi Arabia dropped into second place with 1.15 mln vs. 1.6 mln tonnes in 2019/20.

France exported 1.474 mln tonnes to 3rd countries, of which 1.387 mln tonnes or 94% to China. France is the only EU country with a full phytosanitary agreement with China. It is a premium market, worth about US$ 20,- more than other destinations.

The French concentration on China has changed barley flows from France to North/Baltic Sea countries, and it has changed EU internal flows, reducing French deliveries to its neighbours in favour of Scandinavian and English supplies. In 2021/22 the situation will hardly change. France has already sold about 2 mln tonnes of new crop feed barley to China, the Gauger analysts report.

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