Europe: Barley prices mostly steady, as year begins rather quietly

It has been a very quiet start to 2025, as European barley prices are mostly steady, up slightly for Creil spring barley, RMI Analytics said in their early January report.

Winter crop development across France, Germany, and parts of the UK looks good and prices are steady in response. France is gaining some support from the weaker EUR, but in global terms still face a large gap to other origins (e.g. Australia). Volatility in Paris wheat futures has risen as the Black Sea (e.g. Russia) is less involved in world trade. France reportedly sold feed barley to Saudi, but so did Argentina, suggesting competition for this feed demand is likely to be intense going forward.

In Denmark and Sweden, prices are down slightly in both crop’24 and crop’25, and the impact of the weaker EUR is adding further competitiveness in USD terms.

The UK malting barley prices are down in a similar fashion, while feed barley is up slightly in alignment with the global feed market.

The premium for crop’25 is not garnering much interest from farmers and planted area will be a challenge as a result.

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