The maiden cargo of Australian malting barley bound for Mexico left CBH’s Albany terminal on Sunday. Pictured at the berth are CBH Group head of accumulation Trevor Lucas, Albany region barley growers Nicole Read, Darren Baum, Lachy Mcfarlane and Bill Bailey, and CBH business relationship manager Rodney Scott. Photo: Nic Duncan

WESTERN Australia’s CBH Group has exported what is believed to be the first ever cargo of Australian malting barley to Mexico.

Weighing at 35,000 tonnes and accredited through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) scheme, the cargo was sold by CBH’s Marketing and Trading division and sailed from the Albany Grain Terminal bound for Puerto Mexico.

CBH chief marketing and trading officer Jason Craig said following changes in the international trading landscape, efforts to develop new markets for WA barley were proving successful.

“Our strong relationships have allowed us to find new destinations for Western Australian barley,” Mr Craig said.

“While it is early days, this shipment to Mexico signals a potential new market for malting barley; however, this will need to be developed over time.”

Mr Craig said demand for Australian feed barley from Saudi Arabia was set to increase from almost nothing in the 2019-20 marketing year to more than 2 million tonnes (Mt) in 2020-21.

“Saudi is reopening as an export destination for Australian feed barley, which has become very price competitive compared to barley from alternative origins such as Russia and the Ukraine that have dominated exports to the country for the past few years,” Mr Craig said.

Saudi Arabia is the second largest barley importer in the world, importing approximately 7Mt each year.

Due to the relative value of feed barley compared to alternative feed grains, Australian feed barley exports to Thailand and Vietnam are forecast to double in 2020-21, up from around 700,000t and 190,000t respectively.

“Western Australian growers have delivered a remarkable 2020-21 crop, resulting in the production of more than 4Mt of barley.”

“As Australia’s largest barley exporter, it is the priority for our Marketing and Trading team to find new markets for this grain by taking advantage of trade conditions, developing new customer relationships and exploring opportunities in new markets.”

Source: CBH Group