Aussies resume canola sales to China

Australia has sent its first shipment of canola to China in five years.

A bulk vessel filled with 65,000 tons of canola departed from the Port of Kwinana in Western Australia on Nov. 8, destined for the port of Qingdao in China’s Shandong province.

CBH Grain sold the canola to Chinese state-run trading firm COFCO.

It is the first of five trial cargos to be shipped under a new phytosanitary framework between the two countries.

Australia has been shut out of the Chinese market since 2020 because of concerns regarding the fungal disease blackleg.

The two countries hashed out a solution shortly after Canada was effectively shut out of the Chinese market on Aug. 14, due to the imposition of a 75.8 per cent anti-dumping duty.

WHY IT MATTERS: If Australia regains full access to the Chinese market, it will have long-term implications for Canada’s canola sector.

“We have to prepare for additional competition in the Chinese market now that the Australians are back in there,” said Western Producer markets desk analyst Bruce Burnett.

China is an attractive market for Australia due to its proximity and competitive pricing.

Burnett anticipates Canada and Australia will take turns being the primary supplier to China once Canada regains access to that market.

Australia’s main shipping period will be during the December through February timeframe.

Australia typically exports about 5.7 million tons of the oilseed per year, while Canada ships about 7.2 million tons.

The reopening of the Chinese market comes at an opportune time for Australian farmers, who are harvesting a bumper crop.

The government is forecasting 6.39 million tons of canola production, which would be the fourth biggest crop on record.

Burnett said the good news for Canada is that when Australia turns its attention to China, it will free up other markets it used to service.

Australia typically exports most of its canola to the European Union.

The problem for Canada is that the European Union had a bumper crop of its own this year.

EU farmers produced 19.93 million tons of rapeseed in 2025-26, an 18.8 per cent improvement over last year and the second biggest crop on record next to the 2014 harvest of 21.8 million tons, according to the European Commission.

EU imports are forecast at 5.5 million tons in 2025-26, down from eight million tons the previous year, according to the commission.

There will also be stiff competition from Ukraine in the EU market. The Black Sea country harvested 3.6 million tons of the oilseed this year, its third largest crop on record, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The other bad news for Canadian growers is that the EU is a more expensive market to service than China.

It typically costs more to ship canola through Canada’s East Coast ports than it does through the West Coast.

As well, there is the added complication that the St. Lawrence Seaway closes in early January for two to three months due to winter conditions.

Burnett said there is not much canola going through Canada’s West Coast ports these days because of the closure of the Chinese market.

“That is letting wheat get exported at a very fast pace,” he said.

Canada exported 1.54 million tons of canola through week 14 of the 2025-26 crop year, down from 3.36 million tons a year ago.

That compares to 6.18 million tons of wheat exports versus 5.48 million tons a year ago.

Tags: Australia, China, canola, Canada, crop, Market, shipment