Export prices for barley in Ukraine are rising amid low supply

Export prices for feed barley in Ukraine have stabilized this week as some traders have purchased the required volumes and suspended purchases. But a new tender in Turkey may increase demand in the near future.

 

Improved weather conditions have allowed producers to increase the pace of harvesting and reduced concerns about the quality of barley for brewers, but producers are busy harvesting and sowing winter rapeseed, so the supply of grain for sale is quite low, which contributes to the growth of export prices.

 

As of August 15, 2025, 4.732 million tons of barley (winter and spring) were threshed from 1.247 million hectares or 90% of the area in Ukraine, with a yield of 3.79 tons/hectare. Therefore, it is already clear that the harvest will be 5.2-5.3 million tons and will be lower than the USDA forecast (5.5 million tons) and last year's level of 5.8 million tons.

 

Against the backdrop of low supply, export prices for barley in Ukraine increased by UAH 100-150/t last week to UAH 10,100-10,200/t or $212-214/t with delivery to Black Sea ports.

 

Since the beginning of the 2025/26 season (as of August 13, 2025), Ukraine has exported 462 thousand tons of barley (which is almost half the corresponding figure last year - 840 thousand tons) out of the projected export of 2 million tons.

 

Last week, processors stepped up purchases of malting barley, raising prices by UAH 300-400/t to UAH 10,500-10,700/t with delivery to the plant. According to plant representatives, they have already purchased a significant part of their needs, as the yield and quality of malting barley in western Ukraine turned out to be quite good, and farmers actively sold barley at high prices.

 

Due to the increase in supply, some processors have even stopped purchasing or reduced prices to assess the required volumes of raw materials against the backdrop of declining world malt prices.

 

Improved weather in Europe has also allowed local farmers to complete their harvest. The yield and quality of malting barley in the EU is also high, so further growth in malting barley prices in Ukraine is limited by low malt prices.

 

The increase in the forecast for the corn harvest in Ukraine and the USA has increased the pressure on the prices of feed corn, which have fallen to the level of $200-203/t, and wheat, which will certainly put pressure on the export prices of feed barley in September and October.