Australia: Weather conditions nearly ideal for this year’s barley crop in Australia

After a period of good rains across Australia’s major barley-growing regions, there has been a break in the moisture, while temperatures have been cooler, RMI Analytics said in their early September report.

The conditions are nearly ideal, with a small concern that persistent moisture may raise disease issues later but so far, the cooler temperatures are keeping the disease development under control.

RMI’s forecast for Australia’s barley crop remains at 11 mln tonnes, and likely is slightly lower than the consensus, where 11.5 mln is common. Concerns surrounding wet conditions in New South Wales keep the analysts a bit cautious at this stage, but clearly the crops in all other major growing regions look ‘good to excellent’ and compensate for any likely New South Wales shortfall.

Australian barley prices are mostly unchanged, with limited selling at present and only a limited domestic buying interest. Malt demand in South-East Asia remains strong and creates a stronger competitive landscape between domestic and export malt demand (Aussie malt prices compete very well into South-East Asia).

Terminal port capacity remains focused upon wheat and canola exports, industry sources report.