Argentina: Good crop provides for ample barley quality to meet malting and FAQ requirements

With a good barley crop harvested and safely in storage with an estimated production of 5.2 mln tonnes, there is ample barley quality to meet malting and FAQ requirements, RMI Analytics said in their latest report.

Overall, the barley quality is sound with only isolated cases of thinner kernels and lighter test-weight. By no coincidence, the demand for good malting quality barley remains high and new destinations are showing up to secure supply.

At 5.2 mln tonnes production, there is a limit to the demand that can be covered from this region. On top of Chinese and other new developing destinations, there is still South American demand to cover which is making stocks extremely thin.

Argentina barley prices are extremely firm on current demand from within South America. This is on top of malting barley to North America and Europe adding further to the bullish tone.

It is only a matter of time before Argentina is sold out, the analysts warn. As an indication, farmer prices are moving higher in an attempt to trigger further selling and given a large share already sold by farmers.

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