The malting barley price to be paid to Boortmalt suppliers at harvest currently stands at €171.61/t.
The harvest price is based on the average of the FOB Creil price taken at close of business every Wednesday from week 15 to week 38 throughout the year.
On April 8, the price started out at €168/t. It reached a high of €180/t on May 20 and last week it had climbed back to €178/t having dropped to €177/t the week before.
With over half of the figures yet to be added to the average calculation there are many factors which could still affect this price.
As the hospitality service reopens slowly across Europe demand is expected to increase for malting barley, but large amounts of barley remain in stores.
There is also a large amount of spring barley planted across Europe. The effect of current weather conditions on crops will not be clear until harvest. However, many crops have already been hit on yield as a result of the drought.
How does the price compare to 2019?
Last season was the first time that the FOB Creil and the price averaging method was used by Boortmalt. The table below compares the prices from 2019 and 2020.
The table below shows the FOB Creil Planet price (€) at the close of business each Wednesday.
The highest price the FOB Creil had reached for that period in 2019 was €191/t in week 18, April 30, 2019. The lowest it reached in that period was €185/t. It hit that price on three occasions.
Harvest intake
Suppliers are still unsure how much of their malting barley tonnage will be taken this season as Boortmalt announced in April that it would reduce its intake at harvest due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on alcohol sales and therefore malt demand.