May 24, 2004

 

 

China's Barley Demand Strong, Saudi's Weak

 

Chinese demand for malting barley has recovered since February, while demand from Saudi Arabia for feed barley is weak, Michael Iwaniw, managing director of marketing concern ABB Grain Ltd., said Monday.

 

Chinese demand for malting barley, used to make beer, slumped in 2003 as the SARS crisis emerged and then took some time to recover, but demand has picked up since about February, he said.

 

"Demand is quite relatively strong and we're getting consistent demand from China at the present time," he said in a telephone conference for media and analysts.

 

Prices for malting barley have risen a little as a result, he said.

 

Iwaniw also said demand for feed barley in the first six months of 2004 from Saudi Arabia, the biggest importer, has been strong.

 

"We've had a very active selling program leading up to August shipment," to Saudi Arabia, he said.

 

But now, the market is relatively quiet as buyers are running down stocks ahead of the European harvest, he said.

 

Demand from August onward is quiet, he said.

 

ABB Grain holds a statutory monopoly over the export marketing of barley from South Australia state. It also trades in other grains there and in Australia's eastern states.

 

The company reported grain receivals into its system of 5.3 million metric tons in the fiscal first half ended March 31, 2004, well up from the drought- affected year-earlier period of 1.3 million tons.