Australia: China news adds to northern price slide

Unconfirmed news that China is halting imports of barley and sorghum has fed into the stockfeed market as new-crop barley gets closer, and sorghum planting starts. In the southern market, precarious conditions for the new crop have seen barley prices bounce, while prompt wheat values have followed the global market lower. In the north, grain will be plentiful but freight will be tight as trucks shun cereals to shuttle chickpeas from farms to depots or export terminals. This realisation is pushing some northern consumers to make a move on their November coverage. Table 1: Indicative delivered prices in Australian dollars per tonne. An article published by Bloomberg overnight says China has asked its traders to ratchet back their grain imports to counter weaker-than-expected demand and bolster local prices. The article says barley and sorghum shipments that have been booked are not affected, and new measures are likely to impact arrivals from November, and into the first quarter of ...