EU: The overall surplus of malting barley in the EU will be less than in former years

Planting is not yet finished in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Spring barley acres seem to be sharply down in Germany, Sweden and the U.K., somewhat down as well in Denmark, France and the Czech Republic, according to the latest figures.

The whole of Europe needs a good growing season with sufficient precipitation to assure a correct crop. A matter of concern is the lower acreage of winter malting barley in France. The availability of Esterel and Vanessa barley will shrink substantially from former years.

Analysts figure an Esterel acreage of 274,000 ha and Vanessa of 86,000 ha giving a crop of 2.5 million tonnes, of which 1.5 million tonnes to be marketed as malting barley. Therefore the overall surplus of malting barley in the EU will be less than in former years, even in case of a good crop result.