EU 25 malting barley production in 2005/2006 is forecast by Strategie Grains at about 12.1 million tonnes, a decrease by 1.6 million tonnes versus 2004/2005 (-1 million tonnes for spring barley and -0.6 million tonnes for winter barley). According to Strategie Grains, this decline is a result of a drop expected in the total production of barley and as well of the assumption of returning to a medium quality of barley (a better quality compared to the previous year in Scandinavia and United Kingdom and a worse quality expected in France and Germany). However the estimation of barley amount designated for brewing is a very sensitive one and depends a lot on the quality performance: if the quality of barley in France and Germany for 2005/2006 is as good as in 2004/2005 then the production of malting barley in EU 25 for 2005/2006 will be of 13 million tonnes, 1 million tonnes above the current forecast of Strategie Grains, based on a medium quality assumption of barley.

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