AUSTRALIA exported 82,851 tonnes of malting barley, 349,288t of feed barley and 297,601t of sorghum in October, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The malting figure surprised by jumping 153 per cent from the 32,729t shipped in September, while the feed barley number is down 32pc from the September total of 512,617t.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said Thailand was again notable in its absence from the list of feed barley customers, likely a function of its own corn harvest hitting the bins in August-September.

“We should see some improvement into Q4 2021 and Q1 2022,” Mr Roache said.

“Thai demand for barley does carry some new risk going forward, with the continuing competitiveness of feed wheat eating into the attractiveness of barley in that country; the same can be said for The Philippines and Vietnam.”

However, a strong export program on Australian feed barley showed no sign of letting up in October.

“Japan and Saudi Arabia continuing to dominate the space as we have seen all year, and Oman, Vietnam and The Philippines continue to contribute to demand.”

Mr Roache said November shipments could see a reduction in volume, the result of rain and cool weather causing delays with harvest and some hold-ups with execution.

“Hopefully we will recover the program to full capacity in December, as we have a big program to push out prior to the harvest of Black Sea new-crop.

“Saudi and Japan should remain the mainstay of Australian demand and be joined by Jordan as a major, which has purchased considerable volumes ex Australian traders for November forward.”

Mr Roache said a robust demand profile was expected, with Australian barley considerably cheaper both locally and in export markets versus Black Sea and European sellers for Q1 and Q2 2022.

“The fact remains that Australia cannot move its crop out quickly enough to service the demand we price, and we expect to carry considerable stocks into Q3 and Q4 2022, which will compete with Black Sea new-crop.”

He said this has recently traded at evens to Australian values into the Middle East for late June shipment.

“It’s the return of competition to our markets.”

In a statement released yesterday, Viterra said its first two cargoes of new-crop barley have sailed from South Australia this week, 66,000t from the Outer Harbor terminal, and 67,000t ex Port Lincoln.

Both are bound for Saudi Arabia.

Ethiopia a welcome newcomer

The rise in October shipments of malting barley was due to bulk sales to Ethiopia.

“As per our records, Ethiopia has never taken any significant volume of Australian barley before, so this is a great example of Australian competitiveness in the global market.

“The usual demand was quiet, as you would expect into the finish of the season and run down of stocks.

“We expect new-crop shipments to start strongly to Asian and South American customers, with a good sales program already on the books.”

Sorghum shipments surge

Sorghum exports continue to exceed expectations, with the October shipment figure up 28pc from September.

“China’s demand is sucking up almost everything available, and Japan has added some minor diversity to the program.

Mr Roache said the continuing large export numbers imply a larger sorghum crop was harvested in 2020-21 than the market expected.

“But we do expect a sharp slowdown as the Queensland-New South Wales program transitions heavily to wheat exports, especially considering the excellent quality wheat available in Queensland and pre-rain northern NSW.”

Mr Roache said a large sorghum crop could be the silver lining to the current wet weather woes in NSW and Queensland.

Much of the southern Queensland and northern NSW sorghum crop has already been planted, and the Central Queensland crop will follow suit after Christmas.

“The sorghum plant will be looking very strong, with excellent moisture available in most areas, and prices to match.

Mr Roache said a large 2022-23 sorghum crop could be the silver lining to the current wet weather woes in NSW and Queensland.

MALTING	Aug	Sep	Oct	Tonnes
Ecuador	7000	13000	0	20000
Ethiopia	0	0	73881	73881
Indonesia	0	258	510	768
Japan	0	1501	750	2251
Mexico	33740	0	0	33740
Peru	23000	13000	0	36000
Philippines	0	0	187	187
Singapore	1759	1793	3880	7432
Thailand	1977	1112	2893	5982
Vietnam	911	2066	750	3727
TOTAL	68388	32729	82851	183968

Table 1: Australian malting barley exports in August, September and October 2021. Source: ABS

FEED	Aug	Sep	Oct	Tonnes
Hong Kong	0	0	12	12
India	0	473	0	473
Indonesia	402	0	0	402
Iran	66000	0	0	66000
Japan	167113	38310	137595	343018
Kuwait	0	90676	0	90676
Macau	0	0	1	1
Malaysia	0	0	529	529
Mexico	30750	30000	0	60750
New Caledonia	360	699	528	1587
New Zealand	14777	5843	0	20620
Oman	26913	36920	10000	73833
Papua New Guinea	25	25	100	150
Philippines	29688	7687	13765	51141
Qatar	19253	55125	50000	124378
Saudi Arabia	142117	131557	113311	386985
Singapore	659	367	549	1575
South Korea	883	888	300	2071
Taiwan	1607	2271	2316	6194
Thailand	2240	0	0	2240
UAE	0	57571	6279	63849
Vietnam	82641	54206	14003	150850
TOTAL	585427	512617	349288	1447332

Table 2: Australian feed barley exports in August, September and October 2021. Source: ABS

SORGHUM	Aug	Sep	Oct	Tonnes
China	126075	159316	247405	532796
Japan	97	42186	44106	86389
Kenya	0	22000	0	22000
Philippines	3655	2950	2062	8667
Saudi Arabia	0	46	0	46
South Korea	0	0	24	24
Taiwan	2299	5125	4004	11428
TOTAL	132126	231623	297601	661350

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports in August, September and October 2021. Source: ABS

 

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