Canada: Malting barley values up C$22 in CWB’s PRO for 2011-12 crop, 2010-11 unchanged from last month

The CWB released on May, 26 its May 2011 Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 crop years.

In the 2010-11 PRO, barley is unchanged from the April PRO, at C$252 per tonne of select two-row malting barley, C$235 per tonne of select six-row malting barley, and C$234 per tonne of Pool B feed barley.

Due to the highly sold position of the pools, price movement for Pool B feed barley and for the designated barley pool have been minimal. Overall, international barley prices have increased due to drought conditions in Europe, the CWB commented.

In the CWB’s 2011-12 PRO, malting barley has increased by C$22 per tonne (to C$350/t for select two-row, and C$333/tonne for select-six row malting barley), while Pool A feed barley is up C$6 to C$253 per tonne.

Although world barley production and ending stocks are expected to increase in 2011-12, the current European drought situation is having a sizable impact on world barley markets in two respects. Firstly, the overall reduction in Europe continues to tighten global feed-grain supplies. Tightness in the overall feed-grain complex should continue to support values for feed barley until the arrival of new crop Black Sea barley. Secondly, the crop that will feel the most impact of the European drought is spring barley, which is mostly grown for malt. Reduced supplies of spring barley and the impact of the drought on quality have caused European malting barley values to increase rapidly. Given that global supplies of high-quality malting barley are tight, any damage to malting quality will be very supportive of prices, the CWB said.

Persistent planting delays in North America may result in additional acreage being planted to barley, although late planting usually results in lower quality. With the North American and Southern Hemisphere barley crops a long way from harvest, malting barley markets are likely to see considerable price volatility. As with other grains, currency relationships will continue to significantly influence Canadian malting-barley prices, it is forecast.

27 May, 2011