Imports of maize, barley and wheat for the first half of the year are down on the same time last year.
The majority of these imports are used in the production of animal feed, while some are used in the production of drinks.
It should be noted that the figures below come from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and are subject to change. The figures include imports to this country from January 1 to June 30, 2020.
Maize
Maize imports from January to June of 2020 were approximately 580,351t. This is down on figures for the same time in 2019 and 2018 and almost on a par with the same period in 2017.
Maize is priced competitively at present and causing concern for barley prices in particular.
Barley
47,189t of barley were imported over the first six months of 2020. This is down from 60,860t in the same period the year before.
Once again, this is lower than 2019 when approximately 60,860t of barley were imported into Ireland from January to the end of June.
Wheat
12,572t of wheat (unmilled) were imported into Ireland in June. This brings the total amount of maize imported into this country from January to the end of June to approximately 60,932t.
This is significantly less than the same time in 2019 when approximately 104,979t of wheat were imported into this country.
Malt
Approximately 15,064t of malt were imported into Ireland in the first half of 2020. 254t were imported in June, while larger amounts were imported in the first quarter of the year.
This is similar to 2019 when approximately 14,628t of malt were imported into this country.