Australian market share surges on faltering US, EU production

A massive export program is under way to market eastern Australia’s record grain crop. Fresh container export data shows just how impressive this program is.

Golden harvest: Export volumes of containers from Victoria are more than double last year’s monthly average. Picture: Zoe Phillips

A RECORD east coast production and the necessary aggressive pricing by exporters has increased Australia’s market share in world markets.

Export volumes of containers from Victoria show this new market share through a spectacular increase in volumes of new crop grains.

Wheat exports in containers for January were 91,000 tonnes, up from 52,000 in December and more than double the monthly average for 2020.

Vietnam is the leading importer of Victorian containerised wheat, shipping 20,700 tonnes during January, four times more than the monthly volumes of 2020.

This spike in exports of grain commodities from Australia and a resurgence in export activity in this early phase of the COVID-19 recovery have led to an increase in ocean freight rates for both bulk and container freight.

Indonesian and Chinese wheat exports for January were 14,000 and 10,800 tonnes respectively, each 10 times the export pace of the second half of 2020.

Wheat futures markets are up with Chicago lifting $6.50 a tonne last week and Paris up a massive $22.70 a tonne.

International grain markets are higher again as traders focus on the lack of exportable supplies in the EU and Black Sea regions as well as the potential loss of production of winter wheat in the US caused by the extremely cold weather.

Exporter bids for wheat are unchanged from last week while end users in Melbourne are paying $2 to $3 a tonne higher than last week.

Barley exports in containers were 22,000 tonnes in January with exports to China all but absent from the list of Asian importers.

Brokers quote a trade price for BAR1 grade barley at $260 a tonne delivered to end users in Melbourne and Geelong which is unchanged this week.

Exports of containerised oats in January were 5050 tonnes, three times the monthly rate for 2020. About 60 per cent of those oats were shipped to China.

Export demand for milling quality oats is supporting oat prices from Western Australia, Australia’s leading exporter of oats.

In the past month, oat prices delivered to Perth have increased $30 a tonne to $280 a tonne.

In the same period, export and domestic milling demand in southeastern Australia has caused milling oats to increase $27 a tonne to $312 delivered to end users in Melbourne.

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