Australia exports 2.13Mt wheat in December

Australia exported 2,130,431 tonnes of wheat, including 2114t of durum, in December, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In bulk markets, Indonesia on 336,588t followed by Yemen on 316,118t and The Philippines on 297,582t were the major customers for December-shipped wheat.

China in December made a surprise return, taking 130,000t, putting it fifth behind Vietnam 192,725t.

On containerised exports, Thailand on 28,585t followed by Taiwan on 24,715t and Indonesia on 23,299t were the three biggest customers, followed by China on 23,299t.

Total December wheat exports surged from the November figure of 573,627t to reflect the arrival of southern Australian outloads.

The December 2024 total is well up on the 1,381,167t shipped in December 2023.

Recent Lachstock Consulting analysis of vessel line-ups indicated Australia was expected to ship around 1.9 million tonnes of wheat in January, and the same again in February.

Speculation is rife that India may become a volume buyer, at least in the short term, of Australian wheat, and appears in the December 2024 figures as the destination for 5046t of containerised wheat, and 13,003t of bulk.

Table 1: Containerised Australian wheat and durum exports for October, November and December 2024. Source: ABS

Table 2: Bulk Australian wheat and durum exports for October, November and December 2024. Source: ABS

Tags: Indonesia, Vietnam, wheat, Yemen, durum, The Philippines, markets, Australia, China, export