A canola bunker grows at Greenethorpe, NSW, in November. Photo: Shayne O’Brien, GrainCorp grain handler

AUSTRALIA exported 570,549 tonnes of canola in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure is down 5 percent from the 601,596t shipped in December, and 27pc below the 783,700t shipped in January 2025.

France on 124,518t, Germany on 120,151t and Belgium on 63,760t were the three largest markets for January-shipped canola.

Other destinations which took the equivalent of a bulk cargo were China on 60,387t, Japan on 60,257t, The Netherlands on 60,097t, and the United Arab Emirates.

Since November, China has been buying roughly 60,000-65,000t per month to mark its return to Australia’s customer base following a hiatus in buying since 2020 around phytosanitary issues centred around the blackleg disease.

While shipping to Europe and Asia can continue in the face of the Middle East conflict which broke out on February 28, exports to the UAE appear unlikely as long as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to shipping.

In its most recent canola supply-and-demand report released February 17, Lachstock Consulting said global canola markets remain well supplied, with large crops across Canada and Europe, and improving Ukrainian exports.

Lachstock last month lifted its estimate for Australia’s 2025-26 canola crop to 7.76 million tonnes (Mt),  just ahead of ABARES March 3 estimate of 7.68Mt.

Table 1: Australian canola exports for November and December 2025 and January 2026. Source: ABS

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