Australia exported what is believed to be a record 2.8Mt of wheat in February 2022 thanks to huge shipment programs from every mainland state. Photo: Southern Ports, Esperance, WA

AUSTRALIA exported 2,789,640 tonnes of wheat in February, up 5 per cent from the 2,660,888t shipped in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This is believed to be a new record for Australian monthly wheat exports, and exceeds by 6pc the 2,624,651t shipped in February 2021.

Containerised exports for February 2022 totalled 287,801t, with Vietnam on 82,046t, Pakistan on 52,736t and Taiwan on 45,010t the biggest markets.

In bulk, 2,501,839t was shipped, with Indonesia on 349,000t, China on 320,591t and The Philippines on 291,832t the biggest markets.

In bulk exports and based on initial February figures, Australia is ahead of where it was for the three months to February 28.

In Dec 2020-Feb 2021 period, 6.76 million tonnes (Mt) was shipped, while in the Dec 2020-Feb 2022 period, 6.94Mt has been shipped.

While March 2022 was expected to see 3Mt of boxed and bulk wheat shipped in total, torrential rain which impacted port operations in Brisbane, Newcastle, Port Kembla and Sydney are likely to see the March number come in at below February.

Table 1: Australian containerised wheat exports for December 2020 and January and February 2021. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian bulk wheat exports for December 2020 and January and February 2021. Source: ABS

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