A wheat bunker builds at a GrainCorp site last harvest. Photo: GrainCorp

AUSTRALIA exported 1,658,650 tonnes of wheat in August, down 16 percent from the 1,979,722t shipped in July, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

August’s containerised component totalled 141,656t, with China on 23,036t, Malaysia on 19,515t, and Vietnam on 18,311t the three biggest markets.

Bulk exports for August totalled 1,516,994t, with The Philippines on 337,455t, Indonesia on 222,372t and Yemen on 215,391t the highest-volume markets.

Durum usually appears in monthly containerised and/or bulk business, but does not appear in Australia’s August 2026 export figures.

Australia’s August 2026 wheat exports are 13pc below the August 2025 figure of 1,898,397t which includes 247t of durum.

Bulk exports for August 2026 point to a string of cargoes having made their way to sub-Saharan Africa, largely as a function of trade disruptions caused by conflict affecting Black Sea exports, and also Houthi rebel activity in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In August 2025, bulk exports to east Africa, Yemen and Oman comprised only 63,017t to Mozambique, 106,600t to South Africa and 52,100t to Yemen, a total of 221,717t.

In August 2026, bulk exports to the wider region comprised 38,500t to Mozambique, 26,400t to Oman, 7460t to Rwanda, 55,000t to South Africa, 39,156t to Tanzania and 215,391t total 381,907t, an increase of 72pc.

Australia’s 2026-27 harvest is now under way, with much of the Central Queensland wheat crop harvested, and headers now just starting to roll in wheat crops in southern Qld and in Western Australia’s Geraldton Zone.

Table 1: Containerised Australian wheat and durum exports for June, July and August 2026. Source: ABS

Table 2: Bulk Australian wheat and durum exports for June, July and August 2026. Source: ABS

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