Australia has been shipping more than 2Mt of wheat each month since December. Photo: Cargill Australia

AUSTRALIA exported tonnes 2,411,765 tonnes of wheat and durum in May, down 7 per cent  from 2,593,273t shipped in April, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Containerised wheat and durum exports totalled 221,491t in May, up 14 per cent from the April total, but bulk shipments at 2,190,274t, were down 9pc from the 2,399,270t exported in April.

While the volume of bulk wheat shipped to China in May was almost half the totaled exported in April of 757,415t, China was still the biggest bulk customer by far for Australia’s bulk wheat with 398,228t.

Indonesia on 280,080t was Australia’s next-biggest bulk customer in May, followed by Sudan on 246,759t.

Australia shipped 72,600t to Sudan in May 2021, and the sharp reflects the nation’s increased demand from other origins created by the lack of availability of Ukraine wheat due to Russia’s blockade of its Black Sea ports.

In the Oct-Sep marketing year to date, China is Australia’s biggest bulk wheat customer by far to May 31, with 4.1 million tonnes (Mt) shipped, ahead of Indonesia on 2.1Mt and The Philippines on 1.7Mt.

In the containerised market, Vietnam on 91,912t followed by Taiwan on 29,520t and Thailand on 28,099t were the major destinations for May-shipment Australian wheat.

Table 1: Australian containerised wheat and durum exports from October 2021 to May 2022. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian bulk wheat and durum exports from October 2021 to May 2022. Source: ABS