October 8, 2012

Saudi Arabia buys 330,000 tonnes feed barley

Private buyers from Saudi Arabia have bought 330,000 tonnes of feed barley of optional origin thought likely to be from Argentina and Australia.

European traders said on Friday (Oct 5) that price was between US$335 and US$340 a tonne cost and freight depending on Saudi port of discharge.

The grain was for shipment in December 2012 and January 2013, traders said.

The Black Sea region is traditionally Saudi Arabia's main supplier of feed grains. But crops in Russia and Ukraine were seriously damaged by a summer drought and heat wave this summer, cutting supplies for grain exports.

"It looks like Saudi buyers will be compelled to buy from much further afield in the next few months," a trader said. "They have already bought a lot in west Europe."

Another trader said, "The Saudis offered about US$330 a tonne for October shipment in the Black Sea market and could not get anything like the volumes offered from Argentina and Australia."

"Argentine barley export selling prices have risen by about US$4 a tonne in the last two days to US$299 a tonne for December-January shipment so it seems possible that some of this business is being placed there."