Barley purchase prices in Ukraine increased, but remain lower than corn and feed wheat prices

Export demand prices for feed barley in the ports of the Black Sea last week rose to 8000-8100 UAH/t or 170-172 USD/t, which corresponds to the price level at the beginning of the season. However, they remain 15-20 $/t lower than prices for feed wheat and corn.

China in September sharply reduced purchases of barley to support local producers, which immediately reduced the rate of exports of Ukrainian barley.

In 2024/25 MY (as of September 25), Ukraine exported 1.245 mln tonnes of barley (600 thsd tonnes in the same period last year), including 631 thsd tonnes to China, 110 thsd tonnes to Libya and 103 thsd tonnes to Spain.

Amid high prices for corn and feed wheat, farmers are in no hurry to sell barley, but demand from exporters remains low, as the EU will have a good barley harvest this year.

This also reduces the demand for Ukrainian malting barley, whose prices remain at 7800-8000 UAH/t with delivery to the plant. The premium for malting barley is almost zero, although last year it reached 2500-3000 UAH/t. Farmers are selling malting barley as fodder, not expecting prices to rise in the near future.

In December, the Australian barley will come to the market, the harvest of which will exceed last year’s, so the demand from China is unlikely to grow.

In 2023/24 MY, Ukraine harvested 5.5 mln tonnes of barley (5.8 mln tonnes in 2022/23 MY), of which it will be able to export 2.5-3 mln tonnes (2.5 mln tonnes last year).

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Tags: Ukraine, corn, barley, prices, wheat