Argentina: Both malting and feed barley prices on steady downward trajectory

Prices for both Argentina malting and feed barley have been in a steady downward trajectory since the peak in mid-2022, but are showing signs of levelling, RMI Analytics said in their latest report.

In 2025, feed barley prices have been well supported by buying interest from the Middle East and China, while malting barley demand has been limited by poor beer sales. The result has been a narrowing of the malting barley premium and this trend is expected to continue, under the continued good crop development.

Argentina continues to adapt to the shift of Chinese demand back to Australia, leaving a greater reliance from the region to South American malting barley demand. For feed barley, the delays in Black Sea harvest may offer a small opportunity for old crop, but stocks are limited and farmer-selling remains almost non-existent.

From a statistical perspective, the path ahead is downward for malting barley but steadily upward for feed barley. A key outcome is the expected narrowing of the malting barley premium, reaching a low of US$ 28.47/tonne in November’25.

As the crop’24 season draws towards a conclusion (with smaller tonnages still available), the focus has naturally shifted to crop’25. Weather conditions leading into the current planting season were quite wet, and the result has been a slightly delayed seeding progress versus normal. Still, the normal planting window extends through the end of July, and the forecast is expected to clear over the next week, allowing the remaining 15-20% of the crop to be seeded.

Higher moisture conditions are generally good for barley crops and in Argentina’s case is a favourable start for 2025. However, this leaves the crop slightly behind normal and farmer selling is limited, which is expected to continue until the crop development advances further on a good path.