Feed barley price to $170?

Press, 4 August 1981, Page 23

Feed barley price to $170?

International grain market activity during the last two weeks "would put the value of the 1982 crop of New Zealand feed barley at SNZI7O a tonne f.o.b. or better, said the chairman of the South Island Export Barley Society, Ltd (Mr G. B. Robertson). After a period of very dull trading in recent months, the international barley market was showing more activity with a distinct firming in price, said Mr Robertson. The Russian harvest was 15 per cent below expectations because of dry conditions and it was now expected that Russia would produce even less grain than last year, which would mean another strong demand from that market. The European crop was not up to expectations and parts of the United States’

corn crop was being affected by excess moisture, he said.

"Over the last two weeks the international grain trade has been more active and prices have firmed to the extent that recent sales of Australian barley would put the value of the "1982 crop of New Zealand feed barley at SNZI7O f.o.b. or better.

. "This improvement in price is encouraging to growers and is in line with our previous prediction," he said.

The society was monitoring the market closely and the present trend would indicate that prices to growers should not be below this year’s level, when the society’s No. 2 pool growers had received $172 a tonne as an interim price.