Markets

Australia exports 465,882t barley, 395,370t June sorghum

Liz Wells August 10, 2023

Harvesting Planet barley in WA’s Esperance port zone in late November. Photo: Mic Fels

AUSTRALIA exported 418,075t of feed barley, 47,807t of malting barley and 395,370t of sorghum in June, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

On feed, the June figure was down 22 percent from the May total of 534,560t, and Saudi Arabia on 184,000t, Japan on 155,090t and Thailand on 32,571t were the three biggest markets.

The malting figure represents a drop of 25pc from the May total of 63,725t, and Mexico on 33,000t, South Korea on 9000t, and Singapore on 2527t were the major markets for June shipments.

On sorghum, volume has dropped 10pc from the May peak of 440,921t.

China on 275,462t accounted for 70pc of June shipments, with 60,000t to Kenya and 30,000t to Sudan the second and third-biggest markets.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said the feed barley shipment figure for June shows a continued drift lower in volume to the lowest level seen since January.

Barley exports continued to drift lower for June, with feed barley volume the lightest since January 2023 and malting the lowest since February.

“That was back when everyone thought there was no malt quality around,” Mr Roache said.

“The story of the slow slowdown on exports is the same as last month and the month prior; Saudi demand is soft, with a lack of fresh business reported for a long time.

“Russian barley remains extremely cheap, with prices of US$180-200/t fob the norm over the past few months, which has also undermined the demand profile of Aussie feed.

“From a malting standpoint, we are running low on stocks here and seasonally the demand shifts to European producers who are just out of harvest and more aggressively priced, slowing our exports.

“Notably though, EU quality is reportedly a mess, with pinching from a dry finish and more recently sprouting from a wet harvest across many areas taking its toll on selection.”

Sales surge as China reopens

Mr Roache said Australian growers and traders who have held on to barley should benefit from the big news of last Friday that China was on the weekend removing its tariffs on Australian barley.

“From an export perspective, everything will change quickly, and China will become the focus of the market.

“Today we see strong demand from China for bulk and container shipments, both for immediate shipment and the new-crop period.

“We estimate that at least 250,000t has already been sold in bulk, plus significant container business.

“Export margins for barley are now leading other commodities, which will see elevation capacity allocated to barley and good replacement bids continue in most areas.”

Sorghum exports continued strongly with China continuing to underpin the major volume and interestingly Sudan and Kenya showing up for a significant volume of 90,000t in a month.

“Sorghum in Africa has significant human consumption demand, with many staples including porridges and flatbreads made from the grain and flour.

“Sorghum is the primary source of calories for hundreds of millions of African people.

Mr Roache said sorghum exports were expected to continue strongly into Aug-Sep before stocks start to run low and the shipping program switches to new-crop wheat.

“China will continue to lead the way on demand, despite the heady highs on price of earlier in the year being behind us.

“For Africa, we should continue to see this demand, which is indicative of local shortages and is likely to be filled at least in part from Australia.”

FEED Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr May Jun TONNES
Hong Kong 21 24 0 12 0 57
Iran 64305 0 0 0 0 64305
Italy 0 0 6 0 0 6
Japan 308922 217359 91644 105203 155090 878218
Jordan 62788 187280 0 62073 0 312141
Kuwait 84095 146801 50235 0 0 281132
Macau 0 0 5 0 0 5
Malaysia 189 356 165 0 710
New Caledonia 1317 1211 0 0 415 2944
New Zealand 9113 0 0 0 0 9113
Oman 19269 20892 20704 0 0 60865
Papua New Guinea 100 0 50 0 25 175
Philippines 26123 195330 1016 1754 1645 225868
Qatar 170750 52500 0 52500 22000 297750
Saudi Arabia 798322 677889 42549 126325 184000 1829085
Singapore 4 5 2 1 4 15
South Korea 47605 2710 510 2032 959 53815
Taiwan 9859 3301 492 924 1537 16113
Thailand 2041 200766 91570 67323 32571 394270
UAE 52230 64188 49226 27000 6000 198644
Vietnam 36158 159181 121630 89249 13829 420048
TOTAL 1693210 1929793 469640 534560 418075 5045277

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports from 1 October 2022 to 30 June 2023. Source: ABS

MALTING Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr May Jun TONNES
Ecuador 6000 6000 0 5000 0 17000
Japan 28750 21000 20612 0 0 70362
Mexico 63002 94733 99000 0 33000 289735
New Zealand 0 2789 0 0 0 2789
Pakistan 0 0 0 0 595 595
Peru 16985 16943 0 17941 0 51869
Philippines 4655 1720 286 1727 605 8992
Singapore 13708 9230 2595 4116 2527 32175
South Africa 45000 15000 0 0 0 60000
South Korea 0 24287 0 0 9000 33287
Thailand 2976 3252 0 1078 960 8267
Vietnam 30179 40688 731 33863 1120 106582
TOTAL 211256 235642 123223 63725 47807 681652

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports from 1 October 2022 to 30 June 2023. Source: ABS

SORGHUM Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr May Jun TONNES
Cambodia 0 0 0 0 170 170
China 395487 272246 300322 434296 275462 1677813
Japan 42 45989 24297 26400 96728
Kenya 0 0 31050 0 60000 91050
New Caledonia 198 0 0 0 0 198
New Zealand 0 2 0 0 12 14
Philippines 3689 5257 881 1585 950 12362
South Korea 65 50 48 0 0 163
Sudan 0 0 0 0 30000 30000
Taiwan 10639 7130 4387 4864 2302 29321
Vietnam 675 100 74 176 75 1100
TOTAL 410795 330772 361059 440921 395370 1938918

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports from 1 October 2022 to 30 June 2023. Source: ABS

 

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