Argentina: Final barley crop view is for reasonable quality and good malting selection rate

Argentina’s barley harvest has finished under mostly favourable conditions, and the general view is for reasonable quality and a good selection rate for malting barley, RMI Analytics report.

On the basis of very good yields in the south-east of the Buenos Aires province (toward Necochea), the analysts’ crop estimate is raised slightly to 4.75 mln tonnes. There is more quality and yield variability in the south-east, central and northern regions.

Export declarations for crop 2023, at 1.6 mln tonnes, continue to trail sharply the crop 2022 level of 3.14 mln tonnes.

Barley prices are down slightly, with feed softer than malting and FAQ barley roughly USD5/tonne above the feed value. There is an expectation that a further currency devaluation for the official rate could take place, as the spread between the official and ‘open’ market is widening again. A devaluation would be welcomed by farmers and most likely would trigger a further round of grain selling.

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