Esperance is one of Australia’s major canola-growing and exporting regions. Pictured are students from the Esperance Farm Training Centre in a crop of PY525G canola in the community crop at Esperance. Photo: Pioneer Seeds – Australia

AUSTRALIA is due to load what is believed to be its first cargo of canola bound for China since 2020 next week in a move which could reopen a significant market for Australia’s major oilseed.

The cargo, which appears on CBH Group’s shipping stem as 60,000 tonnes and on Southern Ports’ shipping list as 65,709t, is due to start loading on Tuesday at CBH’s Esperance terminal in Western Australia on board the Armonia A.

The Federal Government’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website indicates the cargo is part of trial with stringent phytosanitary requirements, as referenced in DAFF’s Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor).

“The Australian Government negotiates improvements to conditions for agricultural trade with all trading partners, including China,” a DAFF spokesperson said in a statement responding to an inquiry about the shipment.

“This is an active and ongoing government-government discussion and details have not yet been finalised.”

The appearance of the cargo to load in Esperance next week appears to confirm trade speculation that China was to reopen conditionally to Australian canola, resulting in several cargoes being booked to sail from next month.

DAFF’s Micor website holds some clues:

“Please note there is currently a bulk shipment trial underway for canola to China. At this point in time, there are to be no exports of containerised canola, or bulk shipments that have not been approved by the department.”

The CBH shipping stem indicates CBH is the exporter, and the Southern Ports list names Qingdao in north-east China’s Shandong province as the destination port.

The Micor webpage includes an approved list of Chinese importers and designated Chinese ports for Australian canola for processing, which are confined to the Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Liaoning, and Jiangsu provinces.

Another valued customer

Behind Canada, Australia is the world’s second-biggest canola exporter, and European crushers form Australia’s major canola market.

They pay a premium for non-genetically modified seed, of which Australia is a specialist exporter.

However, the potential return of China as a customer for both GM and non-GM Australian canola will be a welcome development for growers and exporters, who also service secondary markets, primarily in Asia and the Middle East.

The commencement of trial shipments to China is believed to follow many months of work behind the scenes by officials from DAFF and the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, better known as GACC.

“We understand that this shipment is on a trial basis, arising from negotiations between DAFF and Chinese authorities,” Grain Trade Australia chief executive officer Pat O’Shannassy told Grain Central.

If next week’s shipment does help to reopen the trade, Mr O’Shannassy said it will be “a significant milestone”.

Canada is finishing its harvest of a crop estimated at around 19 million tonnes (Mt), while the Australian canola harvest now kicking off is forecast by ABARES to yield 6.45Mt.

According to the Canola Council of Canada, Canada last year exported 8.66Mt of canola, with China on 5.86Mt its major market.

Australia’s shipping year commences this month, and Australian Bureau of Statistics export figures for the nine months to June 2025 show Australia exported 4.95Mt of canola, with Belgium on 1.41Mt and Germany on 1.08Mt the biggest markets by far.

In its Oilseeds: World Market and Trade report last month, the USDA said Australia was in discussions with China to develop a phytosanitary framework after being shut out of the market in 2020 due to detections of blackleg disease.

“Access could be restored after a protocol is reached and successful trial shipments are implemented,” the report said.

The report highlights the impact of China’s duties on Canadian canola, oil and meal, which since March have made India the volume supplier of rapeseed meal to China.

Assuming China was not importing canola from Canada or Australia, USDA last month forecast China’s 2025-26 canola/rapeseed imports at 4.1Mt, 700,000t down on the previous year.

CBH Group, the Australian Oilseeds Federation and Grains Australia were contacted for comment.

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