Rye for €11 per dt in East Germany.
Rye is a special type of grain. At a global level, it plays virtually no role, accounting for 15.3 million tons or less than 1% of global grain production. At 8.7 million tons, more than half of rye production takes place in the EU, with the main areas of cultivation in low-yielding locations in Germany and Poland. Other key areas are Russia with 3.5 million tons and Belarus with 1.5 million tons with similar growing conditions.
Rye is primarily used to produce certain types of bread with a more bitter taste. However, bread consumption is declining, meaning that less and less of it is needed.
Rye has a feed value between wheat and barley. However, rye can only be used to a limited extent as a feed grain in the ration because the bitter substances spoil the animals' appetite.
Depending on the outcome of the harvest year, just under 4 million tons or 50 % of the EU or 25 % of the world harvest is threshed in Germany. The annual results fluctuate between 2.7 and 4.3 million tons depending on the weather conditions due to the preferred weak locations. Only 0.8 million tons are needed for the production of bread products. Between 1.5 million and 2.5 million tons will be used in the feed sector. An increasing proportion of 0.5 million tons is used for industrial purposes, primarily for bioethanol production and biogas plants, provided the product is cheap enough.
The special suitability of rye for low-yielding locations such as Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lüneburg Heath means that regional surplus areas are created from which the product has to be transported to the livestock farming locations in the north-west of Germany. This makes the product more expensive for the end consumer up to the competitive limit with other unproblematic feedstuffs.
In individual years with large regional surpluses, such as 2013, the sales problem of rye becomes particularly apparent.
According to market participants, the rye market in the east is difficult to grasp. The price is "an unknown", says one buyer, and no one is really looking at the cards at the moment. Rye prices in Brandenburg fluctuate between 107.50 €/t and 115 €/t ex harvest free land storage, it is said, but the collectors should not be able to draw any goods at these conditions. Farmers are reluctant to sell. In addition, marketing towards biogas plants would probably enable a more attractive price level. From the Brandenburg station, rye could probably be purchased for €120 to €125 per tonne, one buyer suspects
