The EU's decision to award 15,000 tonnes of Spanish intervention barley for export last Thursday underlined positive sentiment in the barley market, traders said.

"Exports of Spanish barley have a strong psychological impact on the market," said Pelayo Moreno Sanchez, president of the Spanish Cereals and Oilseeds Merchants' Association.

Traders quoted Spanish barley ex-farm at 20,000-20,500 pesetas per tonne last week, against 19,800-20,500 the previous week.

Prices of maize from southern Spain remained well supported last week in the absence of cheap supplies from outside the European Union, traders said.

"While there are no new supplies of US corn coming in, prices in the South of Spain will get more expensive," said one Barcelona trader.

"There is little maize left in Andalusia, somerchants are having to go to Extremadura (in western Spain) or Portugal for supplies," he added.

The EU will study this week requests from Spain and Portugal to open new import tranches of reduced-levy non-EU maize, official grain market sources in Paris have said.

Traders quoted Seville-Cordoba maize, the most expensive in Spain, at 24,200-25,000 pesetas last week, against 24,000-24,500 the previous week.

Traders said maize harvesting had gone well in favourable weather in the east and centre of Spain, including Aragon, Albacete, Toledo and the Madrid region, where crop collection was about half finished.

Moreno Sanchez estimated that 90 per cent of Spain's maize crop had been harvested so far.

Traders said they forecast 1998 production at 3.8-4.0 million tonnes, down from the agriculture ministry's estimate of 4.4 million for 1997, as yields were disappointing in Extremadura, Albacete, Toledo and Andalusia.

Lisbon traders said Portugal imported low volumes of feed wheat last week because itsdomestic maize prices were depressed as the local harvest wound up.

They estimated that five to 10 per cent of the national maize harvest had still to be collected, mainly in northern areas. Harvesting in the main growing area of the Ribatejo in central Portugal was over.

Lisbon traders quoted maize Ribatejo ex-drier for December delivery at 29,500 escudos per tonne last week, unchanged from the previous week.

Spanish traders said imported feed wheat was slightly cheaper last week as merchants waited for British feed wheat prices, which were expensive compared with French crop, to fall.

Traders quoted imported feed wheat CIF Tarragona for December delivery at 20,800-22,000 pesetas last week, against 21,200-22,200 the previous week.

Winter wheat sowing in southern Spain was being wrapped up after a long spell of favourable weather, Moreno Sanchez said.

Some traders said dry weather had delayed sowing in some areas, but they were confident that there was enough time to complete the task in thecoming weeks.

Traders said the oversupply crisis in the European pig livestock market was not having any impact on cereals prices yet, but could weigh by the first quarter next year.