Australia details year to September barley, sorghum exports

Australia exported 7.9 million tonnes (Mt) of barley and 2.1Mt of sorghum in the year to 30 September 2024, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The barley figure comprises 4,967,676t of feed and 2,941,127t of malting.

China was the destination for the lion’s share of all three coarse-grain categories, with its imports totalling 3.9Mt of Australian feed barley, 2.2Mt of malting barley, and 1.9Mt of sorghum.

On feed barley, the second and third-biggest markets were Japan on 8.3Mt and Vietnam a long way back on 45,258t, while Mexico on 223,179t and Vietnam on 134,821t were the second and third-biggest malting markets.

On sorghum, Japan on 72,352t and Taiwan on 40,621t were the second and third-biggest markets.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said Australia’s September barley exports posted a strong end to the marketing year, including around 150,000t of mostly malting coming out of Victoria.

“Powered by our return to China, the world’s largest market, 2023-24 finishes as the third-largest export year on record,” Mr Roache said.

“The large export program also drew down on Australian stocks, with carryout at a record low, and down 2.5Mt plus versus last season.

“This will limit this year’s export program and we expect maximum exports down around 2.3Mt year on year.

China finished the year with close to 16Mt of total barley imports from all origins, a clear record and 30pc over the previous largest year.

“Australia made up roughly 40pc of total Chinese barley imports.

“Importantly, we see this demand continuing today, with significant volume on the books and continuing demand today for January forward.

“The market shows no signs of rumoured Chinese import restrictions that were in the market in August, with both feed and malt demand present.”

Mr Roache said November bulks stems indicate exports of around 700,000t, and 300,000t so far for December.

“It is likely that we will be pushing 25pc plus through 2024-25 expected exports before we enter the new year, which indicates very strong export demand.”

Markets other than China accounted for around 23pc of barley exports.

“Japan was the most important on feed, and ever stable.

“Notable on malting is the growing demand in Vietnam, which is a high-value destination on quality.

“Australia has also been able to hold on to Central American demand, with some very stable trade a credit to those facilitating this market, which is an excellent high-value outlet and important diversification for Australia.”

Mr Roache said sorghum exports in October were the second-largest for the season, to mark the push of growers and traders alike on getting sorghum out before stems clog with other commodities.

“For November, export logistics have completely swapped to chickpeas and a little bit of cereal exports.

“We expect this to see sorghum exports drop like a stone post October, with demand forced back to the US, and feed demand in China likely to switch to other products, including barley.

“The export surplus will be majority cleared, which is good as we see very nice planting soil moisture and forecast over the next two weeks in sorghum areas.”

Further commentary on Australia’s barley and sorghum exports to September can be found in Peter McMeekin’s article published last week.

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports for the year to 30 September 2024. Source: ABS

Tags: Japan, sorghum, Australia, China, export, barley, Vietnam, imports, feed barley, malting barley