Australia ships 633,879t barley, 400,469t sorghum in July

Source:  Grain Central
ячмінь

Australia exported 633,879 tonnes of barley and 400,469t of sorghum in July, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Feed barley exports for July totalled 302,528t, down 42 percent from the 519,651t shipped in June.

China on 257,727t was the major destination for July shipped feed barley, with Japan on 33,708t followed by Thailand on 4606t the second and third-biggest markets.

On malting, July shipments at 331,351t were up 37pc from the June total of 242,034t.

China was the major destination, taking 70pc, or 233,377t, of the total, followed by Mexico on 34,800t and Vietnam on 33,109t.

Reflecting the availability new-crop out of Central Queensland, sorghum exports in July were up 68pc from the June total of 240,219t.

China on 393,611t was the destination for 98pc of July sorghum shipments, with Taiwan on 4818t and The Philippines on 1897t the second and third-biggest markets respectively for the month.

Compass Grain director Sam Roache said China-focused barley exports into July continued to track strongly, and shipping stems indicate close to 500,000t will show up for August.

“Another malting barley shipment to Mexico shows that we remain cheap enough to attract at least some of the additional demand we established over the China tariff period,” Mr Roache said of July shipments.
“Vietnam continues as another growing staple on the malting, and Japan remains ever reliable with a feed barley shipment.”
September exports of barley are expected to be well below those of August to reflect very tight stocks as opposed to reduced demand.
“We have seen significant buying from China and others for the period, and an uptick in container sales in lieu of bulk availability.”
Looking ahead, Mr Roache said buying from China looks to be pushing into new-crop slots, with a significant program already in place for Australian cargoes.
“Importantly, Australia-China relations continue to be strong, and barley has a very good demand profile into China at current values.
“Australian prices remain very competitive versus European and Black Sea alternatives, which continue to squeeze and push up Middle East prices into Q4 2025.
Mr Roache said Black Sea barley market dynamics have been changed by some regional moves, including Turkiye being expected to import around 950,000t of barley this season, up 700,000t  from the previous.
Australia looks likely to have plenty of new-crop barley to offer from the shipping year which kicks off next month.
“The market is widely adopting a record barley production number or close, which is well supported by the recovery in Victoria and South Australia, along with the outstanding late season conditions in much of Western Australia.”
A bumper and possibly record Australian crop is underpinning overall growth of more than 7Mt in global barley exporters.
“We will need China to keep up the early buying pace to move the crop.”
Mr Roache said barley in the Australian domestic feed market was already losing ground to lower-grade wheat, freeing up more for export.
“Barley also remains a relative price sell for growers in some areas and states today, which is likely to continue given lower-grade wheat price dynamics.”
Sorghum exports were bolstered by CQ bulk availability for July, with a big month of exports showing Chinese appetite continues.
“We are continuing to benefit from China tariffs on US sorghum, which look likely to continue short term as we note no progress between Trump and Xi.
Big news for sorghum has been the approval of Brazilian sorghum imports to China, which could provide headwinds for Argentinian and US as well as Australian exports.
“It also has some longer term negative impacts for China barley demand.”
Brazilian sorghum production has doubled in the past four years to 5Mt, and forecast say this could hit 10Mt by 2030.
Animal feed and ethanol sectors are the main demand points, with only 200,000t or so expected for exports this year.
“With major price premiums available versus corn into China and easy substitution of corn into livestock and ethanol demand in Brazil, it is easy to see how we exports could grow significantly and challenge major suppliers to China, including Australia.
“There will be some quality worries early in the trade, but as we have seen with Argentinian sorghum, the customer is willing to change their requirements to encourage lower price supply over time.”
FEED May June July Tonnes
Cambodia 0 260 0 260
China 583471 408833 257727 1250030
Ecuador 6005 0 0 6005
Japan 0 94983 33708 128691
Malaysia 178 178 364 720
Mexico 33000 0 0 33000
New Caledonia 0 326 293 620
Pakistan 501 0 0 501
Papua New Guinea 0 75 0 75
Peru 20604 0 0 20604
Philippines 2139 1004 1323 4466
Singapore 3558 1187 0 4745
South Korea 1166 839 1651 3656
Taiwan 0 3718 187 3905
Thailand 2012 1852 4606 8471
UAE 0 67 71 138
Vietnam 4473 6328 2599 13399
TOTAL 657107 519651 302528 1479286

Table 1: Australian feed barley exports for May, June and July 2025. Source: ABS

MALTING May June July Tonnes
China 175561 209941 233377 618880
Ecuador 0 0 7000 7000
Japan 9320 23707 444 33471
Mexico 0 0 34800 34800
New Zealand 1100 0 0 1100
Pakistan 953 0 0 953
Peru 0 0 18000 18000
Philippines 0 1371 856 2227
Singapore 0 1970 2566 4536
South Korea 0 267 61 328
Thailand 0 1145 1125 2270
US 0 0 14 14
Vietnam 886 3632 33109 37627
TOTAL 187820 242034 331351 761206

Table 2: Australian malting barley exports for May, June and July 2025. Source: ABS

SORGHUM May June July Tonnes
China 480558 234663 393611 1108832
Japan 21 42 43 106
Kenya 16001 0 0 16001
Philippines 1736 1428 1897 5061
South Korea 0 0 50 50
Taiwan 6420 4036 4818 15274
Vietnam 50 50 50 150
TOTAL 504786 240219 400469 1145474

Table 3: Australian sorghum exports for May, June and July 2025. Source: ABS

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