Australia: Cereals firm as consumers return

Barley prices have firmed by around $10 per tonne in the past week as consumer interest particularly in the northern market returns for the first time in months. Wheat has trade sideways in the north, but picked up $10/t in the south to reflect some modest buying from the trade. Sorghum has bucked the firmer trend, with values dropping in response to the collapse of the early harvest premium. Growers in many regions are planting early winter crops, mainly dual-purpose oats and canola, and some faba beans. Providing good rain arrives in coming weeks to wet topsoil, widespread planting of wheat, barley, canola and pulses will kick off in the last week or two of April. Table 1: Indicative prices in Australian dollars per tonne. Sorghum harvesting in southern Queensland and far northern New South Wales is getting close to its peak period, and prices have eased in response to the increased supply. This has seen the premium for early sorghum disappear, but prices remain at levels that ...