Decrease in Feed Barley Prices in Ukraine and Global Trends
After an increase in demand for feed barley in Ukraine at the end of March and the beginning of April due to traders needing to close contracts, prices for this type of grain have started to decline over the past few weeks. This occurred despite a sharp rise in feed corn prices. International traders have completed the purchase of the old harvest and have begun contracting the new harvest at significantly lower prices, which has also affected the situation in the domestic market.
This is reported by AgroReview
Changes in Grain Prices and Export Indicators
In the ports of the Black Sea region, demand prices for feed barley have decreased to 10,100–10,200 UAH/ton (217–220 USD/ton), while prices for feed wheat remain stable at 10,550–10,650 UAH/ton. At the same time, corn prices have reached a seasonal maximum of 11,000–11,100 UAH/ton (235–238 USD/ton).
From April 1 to April 17, barley exports from Ukraine nearly halved compared to March, dropping from 48,000 to 25,000 tons, which is significantly lower than last year’s figure of 170,000 tons. As of April 17, 2024/25 marketing year, the country has already exported 2.24 million tons of barley, which is 5% more than the same period last season when 2.132 million tons were exported.
Features of the Malting Barley Market and Global Prices
Due to high export prices for feed barley and low demand for malting barley, many farmers sold malting barley as feed barley during the season, leading to a supply shortage of this type of grain at the end of the season and a sharp increase in demand prices. Currently, brewers have raised prices for malting barley to 11,400–12,000 UAH/ton delivered to the plant, but the quantity of quality supply remains limited.
Global barley prices have also started to decline ahead of the new season. This was confirmed by the latest tender in Jordan, where the Ministry of Industry and Trade on April 23 purchased 50,000 tons of feed barley of unspecified origin at a price of 232 USD/ton C&F, which is 4.5 USD/ton lower than the previous price set in the tender on March 19. Compared to other offers in the tender, barley was offered by companies Bunge (242.5 USD/ton), Dreyfus (238.5 USD/ton), Al Dahra (237 USD/ton), Cargill (235.9 USD/ton), and Viterra (262.5 USD/ton).