Australia: The last harvest of malt barley in Victoria continues to go well - malt percentages are 80 to 90 % at some sites, Country News revealed on January 10. �This has alleviated a lot of the upwards pressure on prices which we saw earlier.� That means most marketers don't perceive there is an urgent need to buy malt barley in southern and central NSW to cover their Victorian sales.

With all the domestic demand in NSW and Queensland covered and a lessening of demand from Victoria, the interest for NSW malt barley is falling away rapidly. �However, we do not expect the prices to fall all the way to export parity just yet (export parity is about A$170 to A$175/mt port price).� That further drop is likely only to happen when harvest in Victoria is finished, according to Country News.

Feed barley markets have remained much the same during the Christmas and new year period. At current prices barley will struggle to find its way into rations with sorghum A$30 cheaper in the north and wheat at par values in the south.