Boortmalt has confirmed that it intends on honouring 2019 malting barley contracts. In a statement, the company confirmed that it intends to purchase malting barley for 2019 as per contracted requirements.

On Tuesday July 30, a building partially collapsed at Boortmalt’s site in Athy which reduced malting capacity by an estimated 70,000t. This has fuelled speculation of a cut to growers' contracted tonnages.

Boortmalt stated that as long as the malting barley meets the contracted specifications, it will be purchased in respect to Boormalt's standard terms and conditions.

These include adhering to the proportion of malting barley contracted for brewing and distilling (70:30) and meeting malting barley quality and safety specifications.

Accident

Since the July incident, production capacity at the plant has been reduced. Boortmalt has stated that the cause of the collapse remains unknown and the company is conducting a comprehensive investigation. There were no injuries as a result of the incident.

Additional capacity

Expansion to existing malting capacity, which was already under construction, is expected to be operational in January 2020. Boortmalt has stated that this will ramp up quickly to full capacity of 40,00t per year, which will help reduce the impact of the collapse.

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Boortmalt incident reduces malt capacity by 70%

Partial collapse of building at Boortmalt plant