Australian March wheat exports down 3pc on Feb

Australia exported 2,611,207 tonnes of wheat in March, down 3 per cent from 2,695,173t shipped in February, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Flooding in south-east Queensland and on the east coast of New South Wales which occurred in late February and into March saw volume dip, when it would otherwise have risen slightly.

Competition from other commodities, particularly canola and barley, also limited the wheat number.

China was the biggest market by far for Australia’s March combined containers and bulk wheat exports, and was the destination for 441,980t, followed by The Philippines on 365,088t, Indonesia on 298,416t and Vietnam on 293,893t.

In the containerised market, Taiwan was the biggest customer by far, taking 109,898t, and containerised exports in March at 283,920t were up 5pc on the February figure.

In its March 23 Australian Export Vessel Lineups commentary, Lachstock Consulting said Australia was set to ship a record-breaking 4.1 million tonnes (Mt) of bulk grain in total in March.

Western Australia appears to have shipped around 820,000t of wheat in March, down from 1Mt in February.

Shipping stems indicate the demand for barley, canola and pulse shipments will see the April figure for Australian wheat exports down marginally from March, but remain above 2Mt into May at least.

On durum, the first new-crop cargoes have popped in the March figures.

They comprise a cargo to Italy out of Newcastle, and a dual-port load in Newcastle and Port Adelaide to Algeria.

Table 1: Australian containerised wheat and durum exports in tonnes for October to December 2021 and January to March 2022. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian bulk wheat and durum exports in tonnes for October to December 2021 and January to March 2022. Source: ABS

Tags: Australia, China, barley, canola, wheat, exported