India: United Breweries signs contract for 66 thousand tonnes of barley from Argentina – company source

Bengaluru-based United Breweries Ltd has signed a contract to import around 66,000 tonnes of barley from Argentina at $205-$207 per tonne, cost and freight, Cogencis reported on August 23 citing a company source.

The imports are scheduled to reach Adani Port in Gujarat in the first week of September, the official said.

Malt makers in the country had imported around 45,000 tonnes of barley in August, according to industry estimates.

Currently, the barley market is seeing a supply crunch as arrivals are negligible, while demand from domestic stockists is on the rise. Due to this, malt makers have turned to imports to meet their requirements, said the owner of a malt company based in Jaipur.

Supplies in the market are negligible as stocks with farmers have dried up, said Umesh Khandelwal, owner of the jaipur-based Krishna Broker Agency.

According to the agriculture ministry's fourth advance estimate, India's barley output in 2018-19 is seen at 1.75 mln tonnes, compared with the final estimate of 1.78 mln tonnes for the previous year.

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