World: Barley crop 2024 settling into 144-145 mln tonnes
The northern hemisphere barley crop cycle is slowly advancing toward clarity for the production outcome, while there is still considerable time before we can draw the same conclusion for crop’24 in the southern hemisphere. The wet season in western Europe continues, as rain slows harvest in some areas, RMI Analytics said in their late August report.
Canada, after facing a heatwave, is now dealing with cooler but wetter conditions, as harvest advances. In the southern hemisphere, the news is more positive, with beneficial moisture received in both Australia and Argentina. All together, RMI’s production estimate is revised upward by 0.9 mln tonnes to 144.5 mln tonnes. Crops in Ukraine and Russia are slightly higher, along with Australia & Argentina, with western Europe down slightly.
Barley crop’24 is settling into 144-145 mln tonnes of final production, providing sufficient malting barley, as long no harvest surprises appear. The southern hemisphere crops are good, giving increased confidence to their reaching a favourable conclusion.
Globally, the market tone remains bearish and barley prices continue to grind lower. In EUR terms, French prices are leading the way down, but the decline is being offset by a stronger EUR/USD exchange rate. However, all major currencies are up versus the USD, which has significant influences on the domestic markets for origins like Australia, Argentina, and Canada. Wheat markets are the main driver for current price weakness as an aggressive Black Sea offer, particularly Russian wheat is pressuring all wheat markets and also barley prices in the process.
Torna
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