Export demand for barley in Ukraine is growing, but supply remains low

Against the backdrop of difficult conditions for harvesting late crops in Ukraine and the need to quickly harvest and have time to sow the planned areas with winter crops, farmers have practically stopped active sales of grain, including barley.

Despite low export demand and slow export rates, traders continue to buy barley for export, so they are forced to raise their purchase prices to attract the necessary volumes.

Last week, export demand prices for feed barley increased by 50-100 UAH/t to 10,150-10,250 UAH/t or $212-216/t with delivery to Black Sea ports. They are additionally supported by the growth of the dollar exchange rate against the hryvnia.

Demand for brewing barley in Ukraine is virtually non-existent, as processors cannot profitably export Ukrainian malt due to intense competition in the European market, and domestic demand remains low due to population decline and declining beer consumption.

Exports of feed barley from Ukraine for the period October 1-22 amounted to only 153 thousand tons (compared to 352 thousand tons for the same period in 2024), and in total in the MY 2025/26 (as of September 29) reached 1.026 million tons, which is 63% lower than the corresponding figure last year (1.675 million tons).

It is worth noting that the demand prices for feed wheat and corn also increased slightly against the background of a decrease in supply from producers, but the Ukrainian market expects a sharp increase in corn supply in the coming month, which, with a decrease in export demand and a decrease in world prices, will lower the prices for feed corn and, accordingly, domestic prices for barley. Therefore, producers who plan to sell barley this year should use the new wave of demand from exporters and accelerate sales.