HAMBURG: Saudi Arabian private buyers have purchased 330,000 tons of feed barley of optional origin thought likely to be sourced from Argentina and Australia,European traders said on Friday.
Price was between $335 and $340 a ton c&f depending on Saudi port of discharge.
The grain was for shipment in December 2012 and January 2013, traders said.
The Black Sea region is traditionally Saudi Arabia’s main supplier of feed grains. But crops in Russia and Ukraine were seriously damaged by a summer drought and heatwave this summer, cutting supplies for grain exports.
“It looks like Saudi buyers will be compelled to buy from much further afield in the next few months,” a trader said.
“They have already bought a lot in west Europe.” Another trader said: “The Saudis offered about $330 a ton for October shipment in the Black Sea market and could not get anything like the volumes offered from Argentina and Australia.”
“Argentine barley export selling prices have risen by about $4 a ton in the last two days to $299 a ton for December/January shipment so it seems possible that some of this business is being placed there.”
Saudi Arabian buyers purchase 330,000 tonnes feed barley
