Australia: Malting barley exports fractionally down in August

Australia exported 309,597 tonnes of barley and 293,946t of sorghum in August, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Barley exports for the month comprised 115,317t of feed barley, up 8 percent from the 107,002t shipped in July, with Japan on 59,336t, Peru on 24,000t and China on 14,087t the major markets.

Malting barley exports for August at 194,280t were down fractionally from 196,251t shipped in July, with China on 127,259t, Mexico on 31,779t and Vietnam on 30,590t the volume markets.

Reduced buying from China, once again the major market for sorghum, saw exports of the red grain fall 27pc from the 404,075t shipped in July.

By volume, China on 265,163t, Japan on 25,363t and Taiwan on 3270t were the volume destinations for Australia’s August-shipped sorghum.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said feed barley shipments hit their seasonal low in August, while malting shipments held on strongly to a nice mix of destinations including Mexico, Peru and Vietnam.

“China continued to dominate overall, with 45pc market share and 60pc on the malting,” Mr Roache said.

“The reason for this isn’t low Chinese demand for August, rather lack of Australian sellers due to am extremely tight stocks scenario.”

Mr Roache said much of the business executed in August to destinations other than China has been in place for months.

“As we came closer to August, we saw tightening stocks and sellers disappear.

“At the time the Chinese consumer came to cover, it was uneconomic to buy ex Australia and business was pushed to other origins, which is pretty normal considering it is harvest pressure timing in much of the Northern Hemisphere, albeit a little early for France’s peak-shipment timeframe.”

Mr Roache said Australia’s extremely tight stocks will see September shipments holding at around 300,000, before October sees a drop down to almost nothing.

“November shipments will be entirely reliant on the new-crop harvest timeframe and early selling, which today indicates a low shipping month.”

Mr Roache said China’s actions on barley are in contrast to some reports floating around the market.

“Chinese barley imports continue to run at an absolute record pace up to August, with over 1Mt imported for August and an expectation of total annual imports close to 16Mt versus a previous record of 12Mt in 2020-21 and a five-year average of 8Mt.

“The drop-off in Australian shipments has been picked up by other origins and as we move forward to our new-crop timeframe, Australian competitiveness naturally increases and our price becomes competitive and market share increases again.”

Mr Roache said Western Australia was particularly competitive in the new-crop barley space.

“The Chinese economic conditions and local crop situation does need to be watched closely and shipment pace monitored to best gauge demand.

“It is notable that with current pace as a starting point, Chinese barley demand needs to drop sharply, as we have significantly tighter supplies…this season and lower exports available as a result.”

While Australia’s August sorghum exports were lower month on month, they were 23pc above average for the year.

“July could end up as our peak month for the year, with stocks drawing down as we move towards completing a smaller export program year on year.”

Mr Roache said shipping stems indicated 200,000t was shipped in September, and only a single boat is listed for this month.

“As we push into November, we will see elevation space taken by faba beans, chickpeas, and then wheat.

“This will further limit Sorghum export potential moving forward.”

Chinese imports of sorghum for August were steady vs July at around 15pc lower than the eight-month average of 720,000t per month.

“Seasonally, Australia will be moving away from peak shipment period, with the US at the end of its exporting season prior to new-crop harvest.

“Sorghum isn’t highly competitive into feed rations today.”

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