Barley prices on the world market and in Ukraine remain high

Frosts and adverse weather conditions continue to limit grain supplies from farmers, forcing traders to offer premium prices for quick deliveries of both barley and corn. In addition, recent international tenders indicate that demand for feed barley remains consistently high.

In Ukraine, prices at ports rose to UAH 10,800-11,000/t or $220-222/t, but some traders offered prices above UAH 11,000/t, given the high dollar exchange rate last week. A sharp increase in feed corn prices by $5-6/t to $210-212/t also supports barley prices.

In the MY  2025/26 (as of February 1), Ukraine exported only 1.34 million tons of barley compared to 2.08 million tons for the same period last year, so the export potential is 1-1.2 million tons.

Malting barley prices remain stable at UAH 10,600-11,000/t delivered to the mill as processors are idle due to electricity shortages and weak export demand for malt caused by strong competition with European malt.

On February 3, the Algerian State Grain Agency OAIC purchased about 200 thousand tons (out of a planned volume of 50 thousand tons) of feed barley originating from Western Europe at an international tender for delivery on March 1-15, 2026 at a price of about $267-268 per ton C&F.

The purchase price of barley in Algeria corresponds to the price levels for barley purchased at tenders in January by Turkey ($265/t C&F) and Jordan ($273.5/t C&F), so no decrease in global demand has been observed yet.

Tags: barley, prices