Australia: Markets flat as sorghum ramps up

Grower selling has slowed to a trickle as prices sink for wheat and barley flatline in the south and ease further in the north. Trade sources report contracts booked up to three months ago are being executed to keep grain flowing through the system, but new export and domestic business is thin. In the south, growers are hopeful the barley price will rally when Chinese buying comes out of its current lull, and that wheat prices will firm once shipping of Black Sea and Western Australian wheat slows. In the north, sorghum harvesting is gathering pace and early loads are going mostly to domestic consumers. Table 1: Indicative prices in Australian dollars per tonne. Trade in the northern market remains extremely quiet, with feedlots well covered into the next quarter, and the poultry and pig sectors waiting for new-crop volume to hit the bins before they advance coverage. China’s hectic buying pace on Australian sorghum appears to have slowed, and trade sources say any new-crop loads ...