Canada will issue its final crop statistics on December 8. The Wheat Board thinks the barley crop might be a little higher than the 13 million tonnes estimated earlier. Canada's problem was the torrential rainfall before and during harvest time. Barley is plump, protein low (+/- 12 %), but the kernels are stained and weather-damaged. Germination is a problem now, and it may get worse by spring of next year. A final malting barley pool size of about 1.5 million tonnes is expected, however, this will be determined by the extent of the germination problem. The malting selection includes no more than 100,000 tonnes of six-row barley, as Manitoba was affected most by the adverse weather. The export target is half a Million tons. Good quantities were sold to the U.S., China and South Africa. Canadian barley is also being offered in the Colombian tender. Earlier shipments to Colombia and South Africa were executed with crop 2003 barley. Quotes CIF China are US $ 205,-, freight rates are US $ 55,- per tonne.

05 December, 2004