Australia details March barley, sorghum exports

Trucks line up to tip barley going into a 30,500t cargo bound for China at the WA port of Albany in February. Photo: Commodity Ag

AUSTRALIA exported 1,357,312 tonnes of barley and 366,985t of sorghum in March, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The barley figures comprises 1,039,200t of feed and 318,112t of malting, with China the market for 80pc of the feed barley shipped, and 84pc of the malting.

Saudi Arabia was once again the second-biggest market for feed barley, with 112,177t shipped in March, followed by Qatar on 22,050t.

On malting, Peru on 22,000t and South Korea on 13,680t were the second and third-biggest markets respectively.

Total feed and malting barley figures for March were both down from the February total, feed by 9pc and malting by 14pc.

In contrast, March sorghum exports were close to double the February figure to indicate bulk hatches and containers filling with new-crop volume from the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales harvest.

McDonald Pelz senior broker Sam Roache said barley exports drifted slightly from the record month in March, while still posting a historically high 1.36Mt, driven by very strong Chinese demand and supplemented by Middle Eastern buying of feed and consistent South American demand on malting.

“April stems are pointing to a similar volume month, before a sharp drop off in May-June forward,” Mr Roache said.

“Stems indicate exports could halve from the strong early levels, which is driven by declining stocks and rallying price rather than a lack of demand.”

Mr Roache said barley prices in China have rallied by more than A$80/t since the March quarter, and therefore feed demand has lowered at current price levels.

“Malting sector demand remains present and this is plenty for the market for the rest of the season when compared with available supply.

“Basis what we can see on the stems, around 90pc plus of exports are already visible and with more demand in the market July forward, it is likely that exports will exceed expectations.”

Mr Roache said Australian barley remained relatively well priced versus other origins in the July forward period, especially on malting grades.

“Harvest pressure has been so far muted in the Black Sea and Europe, with the wheat rally very supportive of European origins in the past two weeks.”

On sorghum, Mr Roache said the market remains “highly political”, with US-China trade and possible trade deals adding technicality to the only export buyer.

He said March showed a healthy start to the new-crop program.

“Forward stems for April and May also show strong months out of Newcastle and Brisbane.

“More recently, the dry weather and high feedgrain prices have begun to drag into local feed markets, mainly in the poultry sector.

“It is likely that export activity out of the New South Wales and southern Queensland ports will be restricted by this, although some business will be done for June-July forward.”

The sorghum harvest in Central Qld has just started.

“The CQ finish has been good, but liquidity is reportedly poor up there so far.

“It is expected that the bulk program will fire back up basis CQ in late June-July.

“Australian prices are relatively high versus other origins, with Argentina and the US both at big discounts, and Australian demand minimised to the smaller higher-value baijiu sector mainly.

FEED	Oct-Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Tonnes
Cambodia	296	0	0	0	296
China	1535508	724982	898972	829421	3988884
Indonesia	0	0	0	127	127
Japan	10751	0	0	0	10751
Kuwait	41335	21417	33334	0	96086
Malaysia	552	0	350	161	1062
Mexico	0	0	33000	0	33000
New Caledonia	196	201	197	321	915
New Zealand	0	6600	0	0	6600
Pakistan	0	0	663	0	663
Papua New Guinea	100	0	0	25	125
Oman	0	48181	0	0	48181
Philippines	5278	1092	814	803	7986
Qatar	0	0	22050	22050	44100
Saudi Arabia	342995	107050	98666	112177	660888
South Korea	4473	836	746	1189	7243
Sri Lanka	21	0	0	0	21
Taiwan	5299	2055	2211	2508	12073
Thailand	8060	1125	3089	3620	15894
UAE	41368	54862	38450	10512	145192
Vietnam	15662	8199	4173	3662	31695
Yemen	0	50421	0	52625	103046
TOTAL	2011894	1027020	1136715	1039200	5214829

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports from October 2025 to March 2026. Source: ABS

MALTING	Oct-Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Tonnes
China	169864	303281	322105	268701	1063951
Ecuador	0	7250	0	6000	13250
Japan	28591	0	6240	0	34831
Mexico	63000	0	0	0	63000
New Zealand	193	0	0	0	193
Peru	0	18592	0	22000	40592
Philippines	3032	780	1024	457	5293
Singapore	8163	2625	4402	3038	18228
South Korea	16889	370	463	13680	31401
Thailand	0	0	448	894	1342
Vietnam	25951	4772	35587	3343	69654
TOTAL	315684	337671	370268	318112	1341734

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports from October 2025 to March 2026. Source: ABS

SORGHUM	Oct-Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Tonnes
China	117705	10771	181188	358956	668619
Bahrain	25	0	0	0	25
Japan	128	43	22	22	213
Philippines	6982	2177	1499	2493	13151
Saudi Arabia	129	0	0	0	129
South Korea	0	0	0	146	146
Taiwan	7973	2082	2503	5319	17877
Vietnam	99	0	150	50	299
TOTAL	133041	15072	185361	366985	700459

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports from October 2025 to March 2026. Source: ABS

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Australia details March barley, sorghum exports

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