A sorghum bunker builds in Queensland in late July. Photo: GrainCorp

AUSTRALIA exported 619,445 tonnes of barley and 220,599t of sorghum in August, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Feed barley accounted for 428,200t of the August barley exports, a drop of 27 percent from the 583,191t shipped in July.

Malting barley exports in August accounted for 191,245t, up marginally from July’s figure of 190,852t.

China was the biggest market by far for August-shipped barley and sorghum, and accounted for 87pc of feed barley, 94pc of malting barley and 98pc of sorghum.

In feed barley exports, Japan on 43,469t was the second-biggest market, followed by Vietnam on 3678t, while Vietnam on 7145t was the second-biggest malting market, followed by Singapore on 3440t.

Aside from China, Taiwan on 3489t, The Philippines on 850t, and Vietnam on 100t were the only markes for August-shipped sorghum.

McDonald Pelz senior broker Sam Roache said barley exports continued to fade into the back end of the year, in line with market expectations.

“This trend will continue into November, driven by a lack of availability from export areas into the close of the season,” Mr Roache said.

“Demand has also faded into the back end of the crop year, with China comfortable, and some brief competition from the Black Sea.”

Mr Roache said export barley demand continues to be sluggish in the face of a likely record production from the Australian barley harvest which has now started.

“This will see a significant amount of barley needing to be stored for longer periods, in contrast to the past few years where it flew out the door early in the season.”

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports for June, July and August 2026. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports for June, July and August 2026. Source: ABS

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports for June, July and August 2026. Source: ABS

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