World: Worldwide hop crop expected at around 130,000 tonnes this year

As a result of a further acreage expansion in 2020 (the decisions for expansion having been made prior to the outbreak of Covid-19) and good yield predictions, the worldwide hop crop could produce in the neighbourhood of 130,000 tonnes of raw hops or more than 13,000 tonnes of alpha acid, the Barth-Haas Group reported on August 29.

Worldwide hop acreage has grown to 62,644 ha, not seen since 1997.

Due to the dent in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which Barth-Haas estimate to be between 8 and 14% for brewing year 2020 at the time of writing, there will be an oversupply in the market for the first time in seven years.

With most hop volumes being tied up in forward contracts the effect of the oversupply on prices is difficult to predict. As such spot market activity will be minimal, especially in the US where more than 60% of the acreage is planted with proprietary varieties. Merchants are expected to use restructured contract quantities to supply immediate spot needs by brewers. Despite the general market condition, some varieties, mainly special flavour hops (e.g. from Australia or recent releases such as TalusTM), will continue to be in tight supply.

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