Markets

Australian canola exports drop to 114,392t in July

Liz Wells September 15, 2021

A crop of canola on the Liverpool Plains of NSW. Photo: Ian Carter

AUSTRALIA exported 114,392 tonnes of canola in July, down 40 per cent from the June total of 189,894t, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The United Arab Emirates on 51,194t was the biggest customer for July, followed by Japan on 39,404t and Nepal on 17,538t.

July figures reflect a continuation in the rundown of stocks ahead of new crop, and buoyant demand as the global market adjust to a greatly reduced exports from Canada.

Statistics Canada last month pegged Canadian canola production at 14.7 million tonnes (Mt), down 24pc from last year, and its exports are seen at 6.5Mt, down 40pc from 10.9Mt in 2020-21.

In its September 2 canola supply-and-demand report, Lachstock Consulting said Japan is “very much on the front foot in adapting to a lower Canadian crop”. 

“Japan has booked more than 400,000t of new-season business, and looks set to take 700,000-800,000t of Australian seed in the coming 12 months, potentially more,” Lachstock said.

“If Canada’s crop falters further once we know the final production numbers, and/or quality wanes, then we will see record exports from Australia to Japan, provided Australia’s quality fits the bill come harvest time.”

Japan has been a loyal and longstanding buyer of Australian canola, and it will be competing with Europe, Bangladesh and the UAE as destinations for new-crop Australian seed.

In its periodic Australian Crop Report released last week, ABARES pegged Australia’s 2021-22 canola crop at a record 5Mt, and industry estimates accounting for domestic use of 1.3Mt plus carry-out mean at least 3Mt will be exported, with first shipments due to load in December.

CANOLA May June July Tonnes
Bangladesh 60995 2207 210 63412
Belgium 119454 24878 0 144332
Canada 30 0 0 30
France 60366 25000 0 85366
Germany 163249 63316 0 226565
Japan 1616 1200 39404 42219
Kuwait 21 0 0 21
Malaysia 1986 6787 3933 12706
Nepal 15522 15284 17538 48344
New Zealand 300 1500 1492 3292
Pakistan 0 49500 125 49625
South Korea 1250 222 496 1968
UAE 5500 0 51194 56694
TOTAL 430288 189894 114392 734574

Table 1: Australian canola exports for May, Juen and July 2021. Source: ABS

 

 

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