uenos Aires, November 8th. From 2015 to 2017, Argentina have exported between 0.7 and 1.9 million metric tons of feed barley. This year, accumulated to September, export reached 1.1 million metric tons. The main costumer of the grain was Saudi Arabian Kingdon, that bought 3.3 MMT in this lapse or the 62% of the total.
In the last years, barley output (both malt and feed) oscillated from 4.1 to 5.2 MMT. One million metric tons are bought by the malting industry and the rest is exported. After the arriving of Cambiemos Administration (the party of the President Macri), farmers shifted barley planting in favour to wheat, and production drop to 3.3/3.7 MMT in 2016 and 2017. Official estimations for this season are fixed in 3.8 million metric tons.
But, who are running the feed barley export business? According to the export registers of the Ag-Industry Secretariat, this season, the largest exporter is Oleaginosas Moreno, a local company based in the South of Buenos Aires province and owned by giant agribusiness Glencore. The company registered 950,000 tons of feed barley export.
The second place is for the Argentine Cooperatives Association (ACA), the largest farming cooperative network in the country, which register 268,000 tons of feed barley export.
Global agribusiness companies, like Bunge, Cargill, ADM and Cofco, register between 150,000 to 216,000 tons each one this year. Besides ACA, the only local two companies in the Top Ten of feed barley exporters are Gear, a family company based at Rojas city, in the North of Buenos Aires province, and Curcija, other traditional trading company; these two companies registered 124,000 and 90,000 tons respectively.
But, what happens with the malt barley exports?
Here is other play. Brewing company Maltería Pampa leads the registers with 381,000 tons this year, while local company linked to trader AJ Nari, named E-Grain, was in the second place with 205,000 tons.
The ACA occupy the third place with 192,000 tons registered and other local company, Alea fill the fourth place with 191,000 tons.
In the last years, the country exported between 0.8 and 1.3 MMT of malt barley per year. Brazil is one of the largest costumer of this grain.
