Latin America bolsters Australia’s malting barley premium

Solid demand from Latin American countries for Australian malting barley is helping to widen its premium to feed barley, according to Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre markets manager Mary Raynes. Speaking mostly at the July 29 Grain Industry Association of Western Australia’s annual barley forum, Ms Raynes said the Latin American market had emerged after China imposed its tariffs in 2020, and was significant now from a value and volume perspective. Ms Raynes said Latin American markets, including Mexico, have grown to a substantial level. “They’re our major malting markets outside of Australia and China,” Ms Raynes said. “Without those…malting markets, the spread between feed and malting potentially would be tighter.” Mexico imports close to 440,000 tonnes of malting barley per annum, and for the second consecutive year, it is importing 80 percent of that total from Australia. Mexico’s major brewers are Heineken and ABI, which were previously obliged by the Mexican ...