World: Feed barley use may have been underestimated, carry-over stocks overestimated for some years - analysts

World barley crops have shrunk over the past two years. It also seems that feed use has been under-estimated and carry-over stocks were over-estimated for some years, H. M. Gauger GmbH said in their latest report.

Larger barley acreage had been forecast for most countries in the northern hemisphere, but poor spring weather will render some of those estimates wrong, the analysts said.

Right now we are facing a real shortage of old crop barley, in North and South America, Australia, Ukraine. There are small balances left in the EU and Russia. In various markets feed barley prices are higher than corn and milling wheat. Premiums of malting barley have dropped strongly and have virtually disappeared in some markets, e.g. for French winter malting barley and Scandinavian 2rs barley.