Turkey picked up 220kt of feed barley by tender yesterday. The average price was estimated at US$283.71. On the back of an envelope this would equate to something close to AUD$280 XF LPP.
This is pretty cheap. Russian feed barley had been indicated at US$273 FOB. This tender value would indicate Russian feed barley is probably back US$10 – US$15 from that assumption. It may also be telling us that Russian barley into the Saudi market will also put pressure on Australian barley numbers into the Saudi market in the short term.
Tunisia is also in for some barley today, we should see some numbers for that over the weekend. This will help us compare the two destinations and better determine where barley sits in the export market in the short to mid-term.
Jordan tendered for barley a couple of days ago. Prices on offer varied a lot, a high of US$314 to a low of US$284. The lowest price on that tender still was a little higher than the average of the Turkey tender. This may have something to do with the lower size tender. In the Turkish tender 25kt and 10kt vessels were more expensive than the 50kt offers. One 10kt offer bought was US$293 CiF.

US wheat futures were firmer. The speculators are back on the Russia stopping the Ukraine grain corridor deal band wagon. How many times does this market cry wolf before we realise it just cardboard cut-out of a Pomeranian eating a Pikachu plushie and who’s holding the squeaker out of the toy Pikachu anyway. The current deal is set to expire on March 18th.
Western Kansas, the panhandle and much of Texas continue to be abnormally dry, things have improved a little but will need to keep improving.