Markets

Australia exports 329,759t barley, 323,962t sorghum in May

Liz Wells July 10, 2024

AUSTRALIA exported 329,759t of barley and 323,962t of sorghum in April, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Feed barley exports totalled 217,183t, down 32 percent from 317,786t shipped in April.

China on 128,070t was the major destination for April-shipped feed barley, followed by Japan on 52,983t and Peru on 18,012t.

Malting barley exports totalled 112,576t, down 70pc from the April total of 378,302t.

China on 90,780t was the largest customer for malting exports, followed by South Korea on 13,623t and Singapore on 3262t.

On sorghum, the availability of new-crop was reflected in the May export total of 323,962t, up 146pc from the 131,810t shipped in April.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said the drop in May barley export volumes from April was in line with expectations as Australia draws down to record low stocks.

“The ABS figures suggest a pronounced drop in malting versus feed exports, but there is very little to take from this data as some malting cargo is very likely mislabelled as feed, and the majority of Australian feed shipments are being sold as FAQ malting spec to China,” Mr Roache said.

“Chinese percentage of shipments continued to hang lower than wider expectations, indicating our good relative value versus other origins across both FAQ and malting categories.

Mr Roache said Australian shipping stems indicate “a major upside surprise” for barley exports, with a 50pc increase on May volume expected, while July and August look like being low-volume months.

“We note market reports of some fresh China sales for August and September out of South Australia and Victoria over the last few weeks.

“Despite the record export program to date, and record tight stocks expectation, we are still pricing new business versus France and other malting suppliers in the Northern Hemisphere pressure window.”

On sorghum, Mr Roache said some kind execution weather and better crop availability saw export volume climb in May.

“We expect the bulk program to pick up a bit going into June-July, with Central Queensland tonnage becoming available to add to volumes coming out of Newcastle.

“Chinese demand is present, and at reasonable levels when compared to recent grower bids.”

“There is still a bit of work to do in order to clean up surplus stocks in front of the US milo harvest, and pressure from September to November in front of the sizable winter crop coming in New South Wales and Queensland.

“Rallying execution costs and limited access to stems are likely limitations to sorghum being carried into November-December.”

FEED Mar Apr May Tonnes
China 384651 236881 128070 749602
Ecuador 0 0 7988 7988
Hong Kong 12 0 0 12
Indonesia 247 0 0 247
Japan 700 72989 52983 126672
Malaysia 181 0 174 355
New Caledonia 362 0 512 874
Papua New Guinea 0 0 25 25
Peru 0 0 18012 18012
Philippines 528 983 436 1947
South Korea 819 1204 1336 3359
Taiwan 795 1378 3845 6018
Thailand 760 2802 2505 6067
Vietnam 1773 1549 1297 4619
TOTAL 390828 317786 217183 925796

Table 1: Australian exports of feed barley for March, April and May 2024. Source: ABS

MALTING Mar Apr May Tonnes
China 184236 240064 90780 515080
Ecuador 6500 0 0 6500
Japan 26409 10 26419
Mexico 0 33000 0 33000
Nauru 10 0 0 10
Netherlands 0 69995 0 69995
New Zealand 1 0 0 1
Peru 19800 0 0 19800
Philippines 1100 811 721 2633
Singapore 1495 3609 3262 8367
South Korea 0 3654 13623 17277
Taiwan 496 496 0 992
Thailand 480 0 938 1418
Vietnam 21768 264 3241 25274
TOTAL 235887 378302 112576 726765

Table 2: Australian exports of feed barley for March, April and May 2024. Source: ABS

SORGHUM Mar Apr May Tonnes
China 84789 128106 319304 532199
Japan 41 66 87 194
Philippines 1359 1296 653 3308
Taiwan 6850 2215 3794 12859
Vietnam 50 126 124 300
TOTAL 93089 131810 323962 548861

Table 3: Australian exports of feed barley for March, April and May 2024. Source: ABS

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

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will not appear until it has been moderated.
Contributions that contravene our Comments Policy will not be published.

Comments

Get Grain Central's news headlines emailed to you -
FREE!