China & France: French malting barley exports to China will increase to 500,000 t per year

French malting barley exporters have pledged a fivefold boost in their supplies to China to satisfy rocketing demand from the nation's brewers.

Jean-Jacques Vorimore, president of France Export Cereals, said malting barley annual supplies would rise over the next few years from the current 100,000 t to 500,000 t, China View learned October 27 form China Daily.

Speaking at a recent seminar in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei Province, Vorimore said that France, one of the world's major malting barley suppliers, aims to become a regular long-term source for China.

"We plan to bring our barley exports to China to one-third of China's total imports," he added.

"China has become the world's largest brewer and consumer of beer, and it requires a stable supply of quality malting barley. There is huge potential for the industry in the two nations to cooperate," said Vorimore.

Australia and Canada have been China's major sources of barley for almost a decade. French barley is usually imported when, due to seasonal factors, there is no more good-quality malting barley from these two countries.

Surging transportation costs and the falling US dollar have made French barley more expensive in recent years, driving away many price-sensitive Chinese breweries.

French barley is currently around US$/t 285, compared with US$/t 250 for imports from Australia and Canada. The price of local barley is around CHY1,600 (US$203 dollars) a ton.

China produced 306 million hl of beer last year, up 8 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the China National Food Industry Association.

The association predicted that output will reach 330 million hl this year, and hit 430 million hl by 2020.

With this rapid growth, demand for barley also increases. China imported 2.17 million tons of malting barley last year, accounting for almost 70 percent of the total amount consumed, according to the association.

China also plants barley. But the nation's brewers do not favour domestic barley, since it contains a higher volume of water than imported barley, and its protein content cannot reach the industry's standards.

In China, the area of farmland devoted to malting barley has increased from 1.25 million acres last year to 1.48 million acres this year, said Bai Puyi, a professor at Beijing University of Agriculture.

Bai said Chinese grain would soon play a key role in the industry given the improved techniques being utilized at domestic malting barley plantations.

He predicted that domestic barley would take a 45.8 percent share of the Chinese market in 2010 and 57.5 percent in 2015.

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