EU: Barley and malt markets quite quiet for the last several months

For the last several months barley and malt markets have been asleep, H. M. Gauger GmbH analysts said in their latest report earlier in December.

Most estimates show EU, Asian, African, and Latin American brewers short of small or even fairly large malt supplies for 2019. It is assumed that maltsters, particularly in the Western EU, are well sold for the same period, many of them cannot offer any more against new requests.

As usual, seaboard maltsters are better off, for barley intake via sea and malt exports.

Maltsters try not to be short of barley, as the S/D situation and therefore markets are too dangerous. They must, however, cover barley for any new sales and to a larger extent brewers� barley purchase orders on long-term agreements. But brewers do not move, maltsters with unsold capacities as well as the barley trade are stuck in a buyerless market. Barley market prices, still much higher than a year ago, have come down slowly, but steadily, the industry observers report.