World: New crop barley and malt markets are nervous

The old grain year is winding down. Export business of feed barley is negligible, of malting barley non-existent, experts said.

The EU Commission granted refunds of almost € 6,- per ton and lowered sales prices of intervention stocks, but most old crop import demand is filled, and harvest of new crop barley in the Mediterranean region is just around the corner.

Russian industries still find local barley and the South American brewers have not yet entered the market for the second half of 2006. In local markets feed barley is sold to intervention due to the lack of export and feed demand, malting barley, on the other hand, has become rather tight, as France and U.K. are more or less sold out in quality barley, and the Weissheimer group in Germany is taking in fairly large quantities under special insolvency credit rules. Denmark remains the only larger seller of old crop malting barley.

Business in new crop malting barley has been done for deliveries ex harvest and the last quarter of the year, mainly as cover for existing malt sales for 2006.

New crop barley and malt markets are nervous, there is uncertainty about the spring barley acreage in the important growing regions of the EU, apprehension about growing conditions after a late planting season, and tension in the malt markets after the Weissheimer insolvency and badly needed better malting margins for the whole industry.

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