Markets

Australia details yr to Sep barley, sorghum exports

Liz Wells November 20, 2024

Sorghum growing on Boongargil, 60km west of Goondiwindi in south-west Queensland, earlier this year. Photo: LAWD

AUSTRALIA exported 7.9 million tonnes (Mt) of barley and 2.1Mt of sorghum in the year to 30 September 2024, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The barley figure comprises 4,967,676t of feed and 2,941,127t of malting.

China was the destination for the lion’s share of all three coarse-grain categories, with its imports totalling 3.9Mt of Australian feed barley, 2.2Mt of malting barley, and 1.9Mt of sorghum.

On feed barley, the second and third-biggest markets were Japan on 8.3Mt and Vietnam a long way back on 45,258t, while Mexico on 223,179t and Vietnam on 134,821t were the second and third-biggest malting markets.

On sorghum, Japan on 72,352t and Taiwan on 40,621t were the second and third-biggest markets.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said Australia’s September barley exports posted a strong end to the marketing year, including around 150,000t of mostly malting coming out of Victoria.

“Powered by our return to China, the world’s largest market, 2023-24 finishes as the third-largest export year on record,” Mr Roache said.

“The large export program also drew down on Australian stocks, with carryout at a record low, and down 2.5Mt plus versus last season.

“This will limit this year’s export program and we expect maximum exports down around 2.3Mt year on year.

China finished the year with close to 16Mt of total barley imports from all origins, a clear record and 30pc over the previous largest year.

“Australia made up roughly 40pc of total Chinese barley imports.

“Importantly, we see this demand continuing today, with significant volume on the books and continuing demand today for January forward.

“The market shows no signs of rumoured Chinese import restrictions that were in the market in August, with both feed and malt demand present.”

Mr Roache said November bulks stems indicate exports of around 700,000t, and 300,000t so far for December.

“It is likely that we will be pushing 25pc plus through 2024-25 expected exports before we enter the new year, which indicates very strong export demand.”

Markets other than China accounted for around 23pc of barley exports.

“Japan was the most important on feed, and ever stable.

“Notable on malting is the growing demand in Vietnam, which is a high-value destination on quality.

“Australia has also been able to hold on to Central American demand, with some very stable trade a credit to those facilitating this market, which is an excellent high-value outlet and important diversification for Australia.”

Mr Roache said sorghum exports in October were the second-largest for the season, to mark the push of growers and traders alike on getting sorghum out before stems clog with other commodities.

“For November, export logistics have completely swapped to chickpeas and a little bit of cereal exports.

“We expect this to see sorghum exports drop like a stone post October, with demand forced back to the US, and feed demand in China likely to switch to other products, including barley.

“The export surplus will be majority cleared, which is good as we see very nice planting soil moisture and forecast over the next two weeks in sorghum areas.”

Further commentary on Australia’s barley and sorghum exports to September can be found in Peter McMeekin’s article published last week.

FEED Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr Jun Jly Aug Sep Tonnes
Bahrain 84 22 0 0 0 0 106
China 1707083 1201493 747628 95457 12760 136593 3901014
Ecuador 0 0 7988 0 7000 0 14988
Hong Kong 24 24 12 0 12 0 72
Indonesia 0 247 0 0 0 0 247
Japan 280211 191987 201572 0 59336 92901 826006
Macau 0 2  0  0  0  0 2
Malaysia 677 358 351 159 176 176 1898
New Caledonia 911 1209 827 0 157 488 3591
New Zealand 0 0 0 0 3300 0 3300
Pakistan 0 0 0 0 437 0 437
Papua New Guinea 22 75 25 0 0 25 147
Peru 0 0 18012 0 24000 0 42012
Philippines 64448 2453 2420 920 455 711 71407
South Korea 2751 2304 4593 1299 1298 503 12748
Taiwan 3594 2597 7802 2906 1847 0 18744
Thailand 4301 4169 7050 4215 2281 3656 25672
Vietnam 12290 7237 20701 2045 1491 1494 45258
Wallis and Fortuna 0 0 0 0 0 24 24
TOTAL 2076396 1414176 1018980 107002 114551 236571 4967676

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

MALTING Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr Jun Jly Aug Sep Tonnes
China 802314 507326 511928 185345 115887 106844 2229644
Ecuador 6850 12801 6957 0 0 0 26608
Indonesia 20 0 0 0 0 0 20
Japan 19595 0 26439 0 0 0 46034
Mexico 64500 60900 66000 0 31779 0 223179
Nauru 0 10 0 0 0 0 10
Netherlands 0 0 69995 0 0 0 69995
New Zealand 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Papua New Guinea 0 16 0 0 0 0 16
Peru 23950 36800 17043 0 0 0 77793
Philippines 2419 2478 2089 606 1127 1061 9780
Saudi Arabia 21 0 0 0 0 0 21
Singapore 9469 8433 8808 3132 2871 2682 35395
South Africa 47250 0 0 0 0 0 47250
South Korea 0 12600 19187 2013 460 640 34899
Taiwan 0 496 496 0 0 0 992
Thailand 1075 1593 1467 434 0 0 4570
United States 0 0 0 100 0 0 100
Vietnam 37757 25829 34823 4621 30590 1202 134821
TOTAL 1015220 669283 765231 196251 182714 112429 2941127

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

SORGHUM Oct-Dec Jan Mar Apr Jun Jly Aug Sep Tonnes
Bahrain 24 24 0 0 0 0 48
China 91142 216437 651790 398710 252603 333400 1944082
Japan 85 24644 22217 22 25364 21 72352
Philippines 3303 4585 2358 200 100 1039 11585
South Korea 235 48 0 48 0 0 330
Taiwan 5694 12628 10389 4995 3270 3645 40621
Vietnam 0 150 300 100 50 122 723
TOTAL 100483 258516 687054 404075 281387 338227 2069741

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

 

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