Canada: Feed barley prices strengthening in Western Canada

Feed barley prices in Western Canada were strengthening in early February, although activity was somewhat limited given the threat of tariffs from the United States still overhanging the North American markets, Grainews reported on February 13.

Feed barley into the key Lethbridge feeding area was priced at C$305 to C$310 per tonne as of Feb. 7, according to the Alberta government’s weekly market review. That was up by about C$5 per tonne over the past month.

Meanwhile, delivered corn prices rose by a similar amount over that time, coming in at roughly C$334 per tonne into Lethbridge in early February.

Canadian imports of U.S. corn remain well off what was coming up a year ago, with only 77,300 tonnes imported as of Feb. 6 during the marketing year that began at the start of September, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That compares with 533,900 tonnes at the same point a year ago. In addition, there are only 35,200 tonnes of outstanding U.S. corn sales to Canada, well below the 283,500 tonnes on the books at the same time a year ago.

Meanwhile, Canadian barley exports are running about 16 per cent ahead of the year-ago pace, with 1.07 million tonnes exported as of Feb. 2, according to weekly Canadian Grain Commission data.

Monthly Statistics Canada data through the end of December shows China as the top destination for Canadian barley, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total. The U.S was the third largest export customer for Canadian barley, after Japan at number two, but only accounts for six per cent of sales.

Canadian barley stocks as of Dec. 31 were estimated at 4.958 million tonnes by StatCan in a Feb. 7 report. That was roughly half a million tonnes below the previous year, and only the second time in data going back to 1980 that barley stocks were below five million tonnes at the end of the calendar year.

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