Australia: Malting barley exports down 70% in May

Australia exported 329,759t of barley and 323,962t of sorghum in April, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Feed barley exports totalled 217,183t, down 32 percent from 317,786t shipped in April.

China on 128,070t was the major destination for April-shipped feed barley, followed by Japan on 52,983t and Peru on 18,012t.

Malting barley exports totalled 112,576t, down 70pc from the April total of 378,302t.

China on 90,780t was the largest customer for malting exports, followed by South Korea on 13,623t and Singapore on 3262t.

On sorghum, the availability of new-crop was reflected in the May export total of 323,962t, up 146pc from the 131,810t shipped in April.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said the drop in May barley export volumes from April was in line with expectations as Australia draws down to record low stocks.

“The ABS figures suggest a pronounced drop in malting versus feed exports, but there is very little to take from this data as some malting cargo is very likely mislabelled as feed, and the majority of Australian feed shipments are being sold as FAQ malting spec to China,” Mr Roache said.

“Chinese percentage of shipments continued to hang lower than wider expectations, indicating our good relative value versus other origins across both FAQ and malting categories.

Mr Roache said Australian shipping stems indicate “a major upside surprise” for barley exports, with a 50pc increase on May volume expected, while July and August look like being low-volume months.

“We note market reports of some fresh China sales for August and September out of South Australia and Victoria over the last few weeks.

“Despite the record export program to date, and record tight stocks expectation, we are still pricing new business versus France and other malting suppliers in the Northern Hemisphere pressure window.”

On sorghum, Mr Roache said some kind execution weather and better crop availability saw export volume climb in May.

“We expect the bulk program to pick up a bit going into June-July, with Central Queensland tonnage becoming available to add to volumes coming out of Newcastle.

“Chinese demand is present, and at reasonable levels when compared to recent grower bids.”

“There is still a bit of work to do in order to clean up surplus stocks in front of the US milo harvest, and pressure from September to November in front of the sizable winter crop coming in New South Wales and Queensland.

“Rallying execution costs and limited access to stems are likely limitations to sorghum being carried into November-December.”

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