World: Analysts believe there is a gap of malt supply this summer

There is a gap of malt supply this summer. Fresh demand, particularly from German brewers, but also from Latin America and Southeast Asia, cannot be served, H. M. Gauger GmbH said in their August report.

Delivery periods, which were not respected in winter and early spring, cannot be extended into summer, as was usual in former years. Maltsters had to establish delivery schedules for weeks in advance.

In the worst case a stop of beer production could become possible in some breweries, the analysts believe.

There are private guesstimates for Germany: a gap of 100,000 tonnes of malt in Germany for this calendar year, and a huge gap between malt supply - most maltsters are fully sold till end of 2023 - and malt demand. German brewers are estimated to be short between 20 and 40% of their malt needs for 2023.

International brewing groups are covered well, they avoided the hazardous speculation on available supplies and lower prices.