Saudi Arabia has 1 million tonnes barley after big shipments

Saudi Arabia has 1 million tonnes barley after big shipments

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest buyer of barley, has 1 million tonnes in stock, a trading source familiar with the matter said, enough to feed its camels and other livestock for about two months after importing a large volume.

August 29, 2012 5:59 by Reuters

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest buyer of barley, has 1 million tonnes in stock, a trading source familiar with the matter said, enough to feed its camels and other livestock for about two months after importing a large volume.

The stocks include cargoes of barley in 14 vessels that are currently unloading at various Red Sea Ports.

“The quantities are of French and Black Sea origin,” the Gulf-based source told Reuters over the telephone on Wednesday.

“The above quantities mean that the supply chain is well secured,” he added.

The International Grains Council forecast in July that Saudi Arabia would import 7 million tonnes of barley in 2012/2013, down from 7.6 million in 2011. Saudis have traditionally preferred barley as a feed grain, which they find easier to store.

A large proportion of the vessels carry French barley. France is expected to have a larger barley crop this year, while supplies from Ukraine and Germany are lower due to adverse weather, traders say.

In one example, a large shipment of French feed barley arrived in the port of Jeddah on Aug. 15 from France’s La Pallice port. It arrived aboard the ‘Aquintania G’, which was contracted by the Saudi Grain and Fodder Holding Company to transport several cargoes of feed barley from Europe, the trading source said.

Traders said in July that at least half a million tonnes of French feed barley would be loaded for Saudi Arabia between July and August, in what was a record shipment from the Atlantic port of La Pallice. (Reporting By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Amena Bakr and)