UK: Malting barley premiums dwindled since harvest, grain merchants say

UK barley markets have struggled to get much traction in recent months, with large stocks weighing on the market, Farmers Weekly reported on January 15.

Feed barley ranged from £155/t ex-farm in the east of England to £166/t in Scotland in the past week.

Malting barley has also been under pressure with usage by brewers, maltsters and distillers back notably last autumn compared with the previous year.

Malting barley premiums have dwindled since harvest, according to grain merchants, as a result of the high volumes and quality of barley produced last year.

This has reportedly resulted in some growers, eager to sell, having to take a hit on the price and selling malting quality barley for animal feed rations.

Traders at Frontier said: “With demand for malting barley lacking, premiums are still small going into the new year and this sentiment is expected to last for the remainder of the crop year.”

However, some short-term support has been added to the global grain markets after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.

The USDA cut its estimate for global maize stocks, which led to higher maize prices and in turn some temporary support for barley markets.

The UK spring barley area is forecast to be down by 13% year-on-year, predominantly due to an improved autumn planting window with more winter wheat being planted than during the 2023-24 crop year.

AHDB’s Early Bird Survey forecasts a 2025 harvest area for spring barley of 702,000ha and a winter barley area of 381,000ha.

Global market research company Imarc Group estimated the European barley market at 50.4m tonnes in 2024 and expects it to grow to 68.8m tonnes by 2033.

However, the EU agricultural outlook projects barley production within the EU to only rise marginally from 50m tonnes to 51m tonnes by 2035, which would leave a greater reliance on imports.

The EU Commission expects that a marginal improvement in barley yields during the next decade will more than compensate for a slight reduction in the total area.