Australia: Analysts maintain barley crop forecast for 2025 at 12.3 mln tonnes
Looking ahead to crop25, with seeding plans being developed, the moisture situation has improved on the east-coast and in Western Australia. The major increase to Western Australia production in crop24 is unchanged for crop24 at 13.0 mln tonnes, and the forecast for barley crop25 remains at 12.3 mln tonnes, RMI Analytics said in their late March report.
Export levels are slightly higher due to the very strong start to 2025 barley export shipments, mainly to China.
Prices are softer, more so for malting barley, as feed is holding stable at the moment. China is reportedly having a steady bid in the market, indicating the good outflow of barley (mainly feed/FAQ) is likely to be maintained. Meanwhile, the slide in malting barley prices is narrowing the malting premium to rather low levels. At this stage, there is little change expected in crop25 planted area but the longer-term risk is a potential shift to higher yielding feed varieties.