Southern Queensland’s sorghum harvest started in earnest in April. Photo: CHS Broadbent
AUSTRALIA exported 155,083 tonnes of sorghum in April, more than triple the amount shipped in March, but total barley sales dropped to 689,182t, down from 964,792t exported in March, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The jump in sorghum shipments reflects the availability of new-crop sorghu, which is still being shipped out of Brisbane and Newcastle, and demand from China for the red grain.
Bulk cargoes to Mexico and Vietnam bolstered the malting number, while the feed figure fell, and Saudi Arabia on 186,604t dropped into second place behind Thailand on 208,437t.
Market Check head of strategy Nick Crundall said Saudi Arabia and Thailand have continued their run as pillars of demand for Australian barley in the current season.
“Barley exports continue to charge ahead, with April being another strong month in volumes,” Mr Crundall said.
“The October-April shipment total is nearing 5 million tonnes (Mt), with another big month expected for May and, to a lesser degree, June.
“This will likely result in initial export volume projections increasing as we track towards 6.5Mt for the full 2020-21 season.”
Mr Crundall said the cheap relativity of Australian barley will keep it competitive into the back end of the marketing year.
“We should see continual demand popping up out of South-east Asia.”
Sorghum exports finally ticked higher, notching up over triple the March volume as exports to China ramped up. Demand outside of China was fairly weak with Japan the only other country who stepped up for any real volumes. May shipping stem has a few bulk vessels on it but nothing particularly noteworthy.
| February | March | April | Tonnes | |
| Japan | 21000 | 0 | 0 | 21000 |
| Mexico | 0 | 0 | 33840 | 33840 |
| Singapore | 0 | 80 | 0 | 80 |
| Thailand | 1871 | 2032 | 1889 | 5792 |
| Vietnam | 36409 | 5895 | 38339 | 80643 |
| TOTAL | 59280 | 8007 | 74068 | 141355 |
Table 1: Australian malting barley exports for February, March and April 2021.
| FEED | February | March | April | Tonnes |
| Bahrain | 0 | 88 | 0 | 88 |
| Hong Kong | 12 | 0 | 12 | 24 |
| India | 0 | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| Indonesia | 972 | 0 | 0 | 972 |
| Japan | 149282 | 29416 | 133438 | 312136 |
| Kuwait | 0 | 212 | 33000 | 33212 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 326 | 0 | 326 |
| Myanmar | 1309 | 0 | 770 | 2079 |
| Nepal | 0 | 45 | 0 | 45 |
| New Caledonia | 115 | 579 | 198 | 892 |
| New Zealand | 6600 | 244 | 580 | 7425 |
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | 0 | 52 | 52 |
| Philippines | 17504 | 48217 | 33880 | 99601 |
| Qatar | 15000 | 0 | 0 | 15000 |
| Saudi Arabia | 501871 | 667123 | 186604 | 1355597 |
| Singapore | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| South Korea | 300 | 837 | 1260 | 2396 |
| Taiwan | 1744 | 2863 | 1494 | 6101 |
| Thailand | 94052 | 79000 | 208437 | 381489 |
| United Arab Emirates | 13215 | 46677 | 736 | 60629 |
| Vietnam | 66945 | 81132 | 14654 | 162731 |
| TOTAL | 868923 | 956785 | 615114 | 2440821 |
Table 2: Australian feed barley exports for February, March and April 2021.
| SORGHUM | February | March | April | Tonnes |
| China | 10572 | 37789 | 129116 | 177477 |
| Japan | 43 | 65 | 22524 | 22632 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Philippines | 462 | 3292 | 2520 | 6274 |
| Saudi Arabia | 96 | 0 | 0 | 96 |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 |
| Taiwan | 3908 | 2831 | 750 | 7489 |
| Vietnam | 0 | 0 | 50 | 50 |
| TOTAL | 15081 | 43976 | 155083 | 214141 |
Table 3: Australian sorghum exports for February, March and April 2021.
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