Australia details February canola exports amid China talk

Australia exported 526,013 tonnes of canola in February, down 33 percent from 783,343t in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Australian canola trade is abuzz with talk that its market into China may reopen, and that a trial cargo or part cargo is booked to sail from Western Australia next month.

China withdrew from buying bulk Australian canola in 2020, when it introduced a zero-tolerance policy for blackleg.

This reduced Australia’s canola exports to China in recent years to a few hundred tonnes here and there of containerised seed.

The trade stoush between Canada and China is believed to have China seriously considering bulk imports from Australia, provided varietal and other specifications can be met.

In February exports, Belgium on 237,931t was the biggest market for Australian canola by far, followed by the United Arab Emirates on 115,617t, and The Netherlands on 64,290t.

The February 2025 total export figure for Australian canola is well down on the 762,763t shipped in February 2024.

Australian canola has temporarily lost market access to Pakistan.

In a notice posted by Grain Trade Australia on March 18, the organisation stated that on March 5, the Pakistani Government rescinded approval for fumigation of Australian canola with methyl bromide on-arrival.

“Since 2021, canola imported into Pakistan has undergone on-arrival methyl bromide fumigation to meet Pakistan’s phytosanitary import country requirements as Australia’s Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority does not permit the use of methyl bromide fumigation on canola,” the GTA notice said.

“As Pakistan has recently rescinded approval for on-arrival methyl bromide fumigation treatment, there is currently no treatment option which can be used for canola exports into Pakistan.”

Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is not currently issuing a phytosanitary certificate for the export of canola into Pakistan.

“DAFF is currently negotiating an alternative trade pathway for Australian canola to Pakistan using phosphine fumigation at Australian-approved label rates.

“There are currently no reported changes to importing country requirements for Australian cereal and pulse exports to Pakistan.”

Ahead of the change, shipments of Australian canola to Pakistan dropped from 192,240t in January to zero in February.

Table 1: Australian canola exports for December 2024 and January and February 2025. Source: ABS

Tags: Australia, China, export, canola, Pakistan, Canada, imports