Australian grain exports to boom this year
Australia’s grain exports are back in full swing this year thanks to a bumper season. Here’s how much an industry expert anticipates to be exported.
EXPORTS of Australian grain are expected to surge this year, with Asia hungry for the country’s wheat and barley.
Ag Scientia principal Lloyd George, who spoke at this year’s Australian Grains Industry Conference, said Australian farmers had already committed a large portion of this year’s wheat and barley crop.
“China has been a big buyer of Australian wheat, coupled with strong demand from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand,” Mr George said.
However, the final 2021 exports are expected to fall short of the record levels of 2016-17, he said, due to successive droughts clearing out Australia’s grain stocks.
According to Mr George, Australia exported less than 900,000 tonnes of wheat in October and November, about one million tonnes less than the same period in 2016-17. But numbers ramped up in December.
“Grain exports surged higher in December as the new crop grain supplies became available,” Mr George said.
“There were significantly more exports out of Western Australia and South Australia as well as Victoria in 2021.”
NSW is also expected to return as a major export state following three years of drought.
“Australia is set to export about 21 million tonnes of wheat in the 2021 year,” Mr George said. That will make wheat exports the largest since 2016-17.
For barley, more than 5.5 million tonnes is anticipated to be exported in 2021, Mr George said, the most since 2017-18. He said barley ships destined for Saudi Arabia are already being loaded out of NSW and Victoria.
“Trading companies are experiencing strong export demand for wheat and barley from traditional and non-traditional destinations,” he said.
Mr George said with the absence of Chinese demand amid hefty tariffs, Australian barley had been finding “significant demand” in Asian feeders including Thailand and Vietnam which were both on track for record exports in 2021.
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