Australia: Harvest delays caused by weather make barley prices go up sharply

Worrisome rains occurred in the Australian east coast interrupting harvest. South Australian was less impacted and harvest should resume quickly there. Western Australia harvest is moving rapidly under better conditions, RMI Analytics reported at the end of November.

Further rain is forecast forcing more delays but crop maturity (not fully ripe) may help avoid quality deterioration if rain stops.

New South Wales early harvest results are favourable for yield and quality, while Western Australia gets good barley into storage. Still, the wet weather raises quality concerns with some reports of fusarium in New South Wales from damp conditions and an overall lack of heat.

Australian barley prices are up sharply, despite a looming 13 mln tonnes crop, as harvest delays are priced into the market.

The strength in world prices is providing further underlying strength for Australian prices across both malting and feed barley. Despite high ocean freight rates pushing delivered prices to very high levels, Australia remains of interest to buyers from around the globe.