Australia details year to June barley, sorghum exports

Freshly harvested sorghum fills a mother bin in Central Qld’s Clermont district early last month. Photo: Ross Faint

AUSTRALIA exported 859,475 tonnes of barley and 231,046t of sorghum in June, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures bringing totals for the first three quarters of the shipping year, which commences October 1, to 1.97 million tonnes for malting barley, 7.74Mt for feed barley, and 1.68Mt for sorghum.

On feed barley, the June total of 615,236t was down 6 percent from the May total of 654,617t, with China on 523,234t the destination for 85pc of it, and Thailand on 57,300t and Japan on 24,719t the second and third-biggest markets respectively.

June malting barley exports on 244,239t showed a surprise jump of 44pc from the May figure of 170,234t, with China the home for 90pc of it, followed by South Korea on 12,880t, and Singapore on 3512t.

Sorghum exports fell 44pc in June from their May total of 408,945t, with China the market for 96pc, or 222,661t, of the total, with Taiwan on 5010t and The Philippines on 3205t the second and third-biggest markets.

McDonald Pelz senior broker Sam Roache said June barley exports continued to impress, showing marginal improvement on May numbers, but well below April volumes.

“The drop-off is very well expected, with less available stocks, combined with higher prices curtailing demand,” Mr Roache said, adding further drops are expected in the current quarter as stocks run down.

“Overall, we will see a clear record program, with close to 11 million tonnes to be shipped by the end of September.

“This is above early expectations and was primarily driven by early season price competitiveness into Chinese feed rations.”

Mr Roache said Chinese demand has softened, and expecting is growing that the demand and export program for barley will be below that of recent years.

“The growing wheat issues in the Black Sea and a strong early canola sales program will only add to the issue, making barley even less attractive for export.”

Supply-side pressure from the bumper barley crop growing across southern Australia is another factor.

“With a record crop distinct possibility, harvest pricing will be very interesting to watch.”

The drop in sorghum exports in June indicates run-down stocks, and export economics tested by dry conditions and rallying feedgrain values in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland to soak up any unpriced volume from their recent harvest.

“Central Queensland’s harvest and execution in July-August will see new tonnes come on the stem and export figures supported.

Like barley, Australian sorghum suffered from a relative lack of demand over the past 6-8 weeks, especially when compared to wheat markets.

“Brazilian Sorghum has saturated the market and will continue to provide significant volume and price pressure to both Australian and US sorghum in the coming months and years.”

FEED	Oct-Dec	Jan-Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Tonnes
Cambodia	296	0	0	0	0	296
China	1535508	2385651	1144228	587922	523234	6176543
Indonesia	0	127	0	0	0	127
Japan	10751	0	55195	0	24719	90665
Kuwait	41335	21417	0	0	0	62752
Malaysia	552	511	369	190	387	2008
Mexico	0	33000	0	0	0	33000
New Caledonia	196	719	197	269	0	1381
New Zealand	0	6600	0	0	0	6600
Oman	0	48181	0	0	0	48181
Pakistan	0	663	0	1232	1766	3661
Papua New Guinea	100	25	0	0	0	125
Philippines	5278	2650	1196	1268	1064	11456
Qatar	0	44100	0	0	0	44100
Saudi Arabia	342995	351227	0	19000	0	713222
South Korea	4473	2770	1077	485	1885	10691
Sri Lanka	21	0	0	0	0	21
Taiwan	5299	6263	3949	1044	1466	18020
Thailand	8060	7834	3248	759	57300	77202
UAE	41368	103824	0	41000	0	186192
Vietnam	15662	15978	2224	1448	3415	38727
Yemen	0	103046	107470	0	0	210516
TOTAL	2011894	3134586	1319153	654617	615236	7735486

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

MALTING	Oct-Dec	Jan-Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Tonnes
Cambodia	0	0	0	294	0	293.51
China	169864	894086	166363	79076	220677	1530067
Ecuador	0	13250	0	7350	0	20600
Japan	28591	6240	5253	21321	0	61405
Mexico	63000	0	0	30270	0	93270
New Zealand	193	0	0	0	0	193
Pakistan	0	0	0	0	758	758
Peru	0	40592	0	21000	0	61592
Philippines	3032	2261	762	1085	1199	8338
Singapore	8163	10065	4710	4142	3512	30592
South Korea	16889	14513	557	180	12880	45018
Thailand	0	1789	1609	1425	1992	6816
Vietnam	25951	43402	36046	4093	3221	112714
TOTAL	315684	1026198	215301	170234	244239	1971656

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

SORGHUM	Oct-Dec	Jan-Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Tonnes
Bahrain	25	0	0	0	0	25
China	117705	549376	331868	403414	222661	1625024
Japan	128	86	43	22	21	298
Philippines	6982	6094	2550	1724	3205	20555
Saudi Arabia	129	0	0	0	0	129
South Korea	0	146	220	0	0	366
Taiwan	7973	9904	2560	3736	5010	29182
Vietnam	99	200	50	50	149	548
TOTAL	133041	565805	337290	408945	231046	1676128

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

Grain Central: Get our free news straight to your inbox – Click here

Markets

Australia details year to June barley, sorghum exports

HAVE YOUR SAY Cancel Reply

Comments