Barley prices steady from drops in April

Barley prices steadied this week after falling heavily late last month, according to a market analyst.

Price Fall: Barley prices dropped slightly from last week.

GROWERS are likely to have seen the worst in barley price drops for now, following China slapping Australian barley with 80 per cent tariffs last week.

Geelong feed barley prices were $231 yesterday, slightly down on $236 a tonne last week.

“There hasn’t been much of a change in the past week, but they have fallen heavily since the end of April,” Commonwealth Bank market analyst Tobin Gorey said.

At the end of April, Geelong prices were at $292, but Mr Gorey said the fall was not entirely attributed to China’s tariffs on Australian barley and dropped following broader market movements.

“About $35 of the drop was attributed to China’s announcement,” he said.

“Feed wheat out of Geelong fell about $26 in the same time frame.

“It is probably the maximum impact we will see now, as prices were marked down quite quickly.”

In terms of malt barley, prices plummeted about $53 a tonne from the end of April.

“Malt barley lost about $30 due to the tariff announcement,” Mr Gorey said.

Meanwhile for wheat, Geelong prices were mostly unchanged compared to last week, fetching about $342 a tonne.

Old crop wheat futures dropped about $10 from last week, and were at $354 on Monday.

“The is because the Australian dollar rallied and because of a drop in global prices,” Mr Gorey said.

MORE: AUSTRALIAN WHEAT REBOUNDS

CROPS IN, FINGERS CROSSED

New crop wheat prices were also unchanged, sitting at about $304 a tonne, but did fall earlier in the month thanks to improved weather conditions.

“There has been a decent amount of rain forecast for Western Australia, and this has had an impact on global patterns,” Mr Gorey said.