Golden Bay Grain Terminal is a major receival point in The Philippines for Australian wheat. Photo: Rapat Industries

AUSTRALIA exported 5.28 million tonnes of wheat in the first half of 2019, with The Philippines, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam its biggest customers by volume, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This is up from the previous six month period covering July to December 2018, when 4.47Mt was shipped.

The Philippines has consolidated its position as Australia’s biggest wheat market for bulk and containerised wheat combined, and imported 1.24Mt over the period.

According to Lachstock Consulting’s latest Vessel Activity Report, Australia transhipped 961,000t of wheat to eastern ports between January and June, which slots the domestic market in as the second-biggest customer for Australian wheat.

This transhipped tonnage is supplying customers who in non-drought years source their requirements from crops grown primarily in New South Wales and Queensland.

In terms of export customers, South Korea on 625,994t was the second-biggest customer for Australian wheat, followed by Japan with 508,820t and Vietnam with 451,099t.

Over the first half of this year, Indonesia on 415,991t has slipped to fifth place in terms of Australia’s export wheat markets.

In Myanmar, the port development at Thilawa and an increased milling capacity have seen this emerging market for Australian wheat transition to bulk from containerised delivery.

What is believed to be Myanmar’s first bulk cargo of Australian wheat totalled 25,300t and was shipped in May.

Table 1: ABS monthly containerised Australian wheat export data for January to June 2019.

Table 2: ABS monthly bulk Australian wheat export data for January to June 2019.

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