Monday Market Briefing - 8th June 2020

No fireworks last week; Brexit negotiations bore no fruit, rain arrived but was patchy, and markets decided they were high enough for the time being.  New crop wheat retreated £4/MT from a very high close on the previous week. We keep referring to the markets being range-bound and that remains true. UK feed compounders will face some tricky calculations as they start to look at relative costs of wheat, feed barley and imported corn for the season ahead.  Non-EU origins of corn have been cheap enough to trigger EU Import levies recently, which has supported French corn prices.

There is more rain in the forecast this week in time to benefit all crops where it falls. The French winter barley harvest has started in Charentes on the West coast of France but is rain interrupted. The crop is about 10 days early, and both yield and quality are disappointing. If this goes on to be reflected inland south of Paris, and over towards Burgundy it will be significant. French winter barleys have been a large part of the continental malt industry in recent years and problems with European barleys will increase the reliance on spring crops, including the UK.

A more comprehensive review of the malting barley outlook is published this week on our webpage, alongside a new contract offering. In response to demand for harvest solutions for handling malting barley, we can provide a very cost-effective package for growers who may be uncertain of quality/yield, but would still like the opportunity to move their barley promptly and have it dried/blended if necessary to ensure best value.

Richard Wright provides an overview of the spring barley market for this season HERE with a link to our BAF Standard Terms Spring Barley Contract 2020. Please speak to your farm buyer if this is of interest.

Have a good week and stay safe.

Bartholomews Grain Marketing Team