Domestic

Australia’s August wheat exports drop 37pc from July to 847,181t

Liz Wells, October 23, 2018

AUSTRALIA exported 847,181 tonnes of wheat in August, down 37 per cent from the July figure of 1.35 million tonnes (Mt), according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The drop reflects a diversion of South and Western Australia’s exportable surplus into the drought-affected eastern states, as well as competition in key Asian markets including Indonesia and The Philippines from new-crop wheat shipped from Black Sea ports.

Market Check head of strategy, Nick Crundall, said shipments for August, as the penultimate month for the 2017-18 crop year, were well behind the five-year average for August.

“Indonesia imported 133,000t in August, down more than 50pc  from July, while The Philippines dropped from 242k in July to less than 6000t in August,” he said.

“Vietnam, New Zealand and Egypt all increased their Aussie usage month on month, but not enough to compensate for the fall from our traditional export homes.”

Mr Crundall said this decline in export sales was not surprising, as Australia was in “full rationing mode” in response to eastern Australia’s bleak prospects for the 2018-19 season.

“The market needed to rally to stem our export pace to ensure we kept wheat domestically to help fill the deficit we face this coming season, which has manifested in these August numbers.

“Also, transhipments to New South Wales and Queensland have become the focus of exporters, as they provide better value than exporting overseas, and the demand is strong.

“September’s export pace is likely to yield similar results, with the export program all but finished for the 2017-18 season.”

Table 1: ABS bulk wheat export figures for June, July and August 2018.

BULK June July August Total
Bahrain 23917 0 27000 50917
Egypt 29175 0 67500 96675
Fiji 0 43804 0 43804
Indonesia 370451 277304 129505 777261
Iraq 51948 104700 0 156648
Japan 63023 74958 88796 226777
Korea 102223 98230 55435 255888
Kuwait 42568 45203 0 87771
Malaysia 16510 93897 36261 146668
New Zealand 48299 70100 84200 202599
Nigeria 0 61000 0 61000
Oman 13628 31099 0 44727
Papua New Guinea 17600 22000 17599 57199
Philippines 259540 183394 0 442934
Singapore 0 0 19800 19800
Sudan 0 0 11000 11000
Taiwan 0 1340 0 1340
Thailand 25500 26242 43650 95392
UAE 127 22050 0 22177
Vietnam 72230 0 124834 197064
Yemen 82587 26900 31000 140487
TONNES 1219327 1182222 736579 3138128

 

Table 2: ABS bulk wheat export figures for June, July and August 2018.

BOXED June July Aug Total
China 17168 6653 11300 35120
Egypt 0 250 475 725.24
Fiji 1147 3714 4599 9461
Hong Kong 24 24 0 48
Indonesia 10031 4583 3790 18404
Japan 60 0 669 730
Korea 501 1018 502 2021
Malaysia 20809 7648 13871 42328
Myanmar 25299 31094 23736 80130
New Caledonia 1145 2797 3083 7024
New Zealand 6075 6819 6406 19300
Papua New Guinea 76 0 47 123
Philippines 5043 59085 5728 69856
Saudi Arabia 500 500 1125 2125
Singapore 0 0 5415 5415
Solomon Islands 1384 1947 1445 4777
Sri Lanka 770 0 0 770
Taiwan 16169 17533 10644 44346
Tanzania 0 0 503 503
Thailand 4082 8270 11564 23916
United Kingdom 255 996 498 1749
Vietnam 12523 16802 5200 34525
TONNES 123061 169732 110602 403395

 

 

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