The domestic market for fodder barley appears to be stabilizing, a price in full correspondence with that of the European market.
The evolution of prices for the product in question could be said to have had the least intensity compared to soft wheat or corn which, after the great correction in July, reacted dynamically upwards and even today show strong fluctuations in a range between 10 with 20 euros per ton.
On the other hand, fodder barley, after correcting from the highs of 340 to 350 euros per ton paid by the market at the beginning of threshing last June, failed to recover a significant part of the lost ground, with the price not exceeding since then 300 euros per ton. The reason for this was a good harvest in Bulgaria, which exports a significant tonnage of its production, but also the expectation of Ukrainian reserves. It also forms a benchmark for the upcoming corn crop, with the market attempting to contain prices despite significantly reduced prices.
The picture is similar for the market in malting barley, with the price having been maintained for some time at 350 euros per ton, having previously reached high levels above 425 euros. The case of malting barley is interesting, since in this case the market has been experiencing shortages since the 2020 period, when the trade dispute between Beijing and Australia brought several Chinese traders to France to supply malting barley.
All this at a time when breweries in Europe are faced with lockouts or curtailment of production as a result of the energy crisis and limited access to carbonation and raw materials for bottling beer. Beer price rises are already in the headlines across Europe, with the cost of the finished product in the UK for example up 70% compared to the previous boom in the agricultural commodity in 2008. According to according to market people's calculations made by microbreweries, the production of the finished product costs 25% more this year compared to 2021.
However, as analysts of the said market report, these revaluations in the final product do not correspond to the formation of the price of malt at the levels it is today. After all, it is said that the participation of barley in the cost of beer is lower compared to energy costs, bottling or that of hops. However, reports from Ireland want France's Boortmalt, which buys grain on behalf of the Irish drinks industry, to reduce the premiums it pays barley producers to offset energy costs.
Global production decreased by 2.4%
World barley production is expected to be down for the current 2022-2023 marketing season at around 145.3 million tonnes, down 2.4% from last year and 0.4% from the five-year average. It is highly anticipated that it will be Russia's harvest that will reach 19.9 million tons. World consumption is expected to decline to 146.8 million tons, of which 106.8 million tons are for livestock use. In other words, it seems that the production is deficient.
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