LATEST data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australia shipped 58,096 tonnes of canola in June, up 56 per cent on May shipments, but well down on totals of previous months as bulk shipments for the year wind down.

While exporters have enough seed to cover containerised sales, and a few bulk cargoes in the back end of the marketing year, new-crop attention in eastern Australia has switched to whether it will have enough to fulfil domestic requirements from November on.

The New South Wales canola crop, forecast last month by the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) at 490,000 tonnes from 425,000 hectares, is now seen as more likely to produce 400,000t, with limited soil moisture available to crops as flowering begins.

AOF executive officer, Nick Goddard, said while South Australia was likely to have sufficient export surplus for some cargoes, and Western Australia would have plenty, bulk shipments out of Victoria and NSW could not be expected while dry conditions prevailed.

“I can’t see exports out of the east coast, and things might be so challenging that some canola needs to come around from the west coast,” Mr Goddard said.

“East coast supplies might just meet domestic demand.”

This comes from canola’s major crushers, Cargill in Newcastle, Riverina Oils and BioEnergy in Wagga Wagga, MSM Milling at Manildra, and Riverland Oilseeds at Numurkah.

With Cargill, Australia’s only large-scale cottonseed crusher, now ratcheting back production at its Narrabri plant because of scarce and expensive seed, canola meal has been sought to put into animal feed rations.

Australian Bureau of Statistics canola export data for April, May and June 2018.

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