Barley: A declining trend in planted acreages
November 24, 2017 at 8:26 AM ,
Starry Night Ltd.
Barley: a strong historical trend in reduction of planted acreages prevails
BULGARIA. In comparison with the increased acreages of planted wheat for the next season (by 8.2% so far), barley’s sowing rate lags substantially from that of last year. The most recent estimates of planted land of barley currently stand at 103,091 ha or a dip of 12.9% on a yearly basis, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The difference could be even larger by the time the final estimates are released.
A short-term comparison shows that since 2014 (218,612 ha) through 2015 (191,433 ha) till 2016 (168,244 ha), farmers reduced the gross allocation of land for the cultivation of the grain, choosing instead to focus on more profitable crops. According to them, it is the demand for a crop that drives allocation strategies. The lesser planted acreages, the lesser expected aggregate output, ceteris paribus.
|
Harvest 2017-18 (01.07.2017 - 17.11.2017) units in MT |
|
|
Beginning availability |
22,000 |
|
Aggregate output |
633,393 |
|
Imports |
247 |
|
Domestic consumption |
120,000 |
|
beer production |
30,000 |
|
feed |
90,000 |
|
Exports to the world |
241,549 |
|
to EU markets |
224,332 |
|
to rest of the world |
17,217 |
Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture
Brakes on export activities
At the beginning of harvest 2017-18, buyers conducted swift and massive procurement campaigns at prices that vexed farmers, reaching as low as 0.123 EUR/kg EXW Bulgaria. Barley is usually collected earlier from fields than other local grains are, and the subsequent hailstorms did not damage the crop as they did to wheat, rapeseed and corn in some fields within regions throughout the general North. As a result, barley’s quality characteristics of the recent harvest, according to local farmers, were of higher value than those of last year. Accordingly, the higher quality grain and the low prices quickly drove the buying campaign.
Fulfilling international contracts, market players increased ship quantities abroad earlier in the season while recently the export rate has plummeted. Tough regional competition has always influenced barley’s exports, and the current market sentiment is for the pace of foreign trade activity to maintain its subdued pulse. Domestic consumption goes by a few metric tons per week.
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