The partial collapse of a building used to produce malt last week at Boortmalt’s Athy site could have serious consequences for the malting industry in Ireland.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that there could be a loss of more than two thirds of the malting capacity at the Athy site.

The loss of capacity is a result of the collapse of the larger of the two malt producing facilities at the site, which account for about 70,000t of malt per year.

The Athy site has a current capacity of approximately 100,000t of malt annually.

The second smaller malting facility remains in production.

A third malting facility which is currently under construction at the Athy site will add up to 40,000t of malt capacity and is expected to come on stream in January next year.

This would bring output back up to 70% of current levels.

Industry outlook

It seems obvious that a significant shortfall exists in malting capacity for the year ahead.

The loss of malting capacity adds huge uncertainty for growers as it could take up to a year for the lost malting capacity to be replaced.

It is unclear at this stage if there may be a decreased intake this year or next.

Since 2018, Boortmalt, which is a subsidiary of French co-op Axéréal, has been seeking to expand its malting barley intake by up to 50,000t.

The company has met with farmers in counties Louth, Meath, Westmeath, Galway, Donegal and Cork recently, in a bid to increase its existing base of 670 growers.

The reduced malting capacity also raises the question as to whether we might we see Irish barley sent abroad in order to meet customer demand.

Will this result in increased malt imports? Or might all the contracted grain be purchased and stored?