Raisio Malt, Finland’s largest producer of brewing malt, has published recently that in its main malting barley sourcing area, the harvesting has been completed in favourable weather conditions. It seems that the crop level per hectare will be very much the same as last crop year, in some areas even higher (3500-4500 kg/ha), the company said. The total barley area in Finland was about 530 000 hectares. “On the basis of the pre-samples analysed so far, the barley has excellent germination, good kernel size, good general appearance and sound colour. The protein level is slightly higher than the start of the season indicated. Compared with the last year’s crop, malting barley 2003 is of better quality. The need to import malting barley will be estimated a bit later, after the necessary screenings have been carried out.”

Raisio Malt has an annual capacity of 105,000 tonnes and is formed by 38 employees. Raisio Malt forms one part of the Raisio Group a leading Finnish foods, animal feeds and paper chemicals enterprise.

21 November, 2003