Australia: Both malting and feed barley exports down in February

Australia exported 978,890 tonnes of barley and 123,500t of sorghum in February, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

At 891,255t, February’s feed barley exports were down 7 percent from the 957,394t sent offshore in January, with China on 517,509t continuing as the biggest customer by far.

Saudi Arabia on 113,004t and Japan on 103,131t were the second and third-biggest markets respectively, followed by Iran on 71,500t.

February malting barley exports at 87,635t were down 35pc from the 134,512t exported in January, with China on 86,534t and Vietnam on 1101t the only customers.

New-crop sorghum hit export channels in February, with exports of the red grain surging to 123,500t from 9179t in January.

China on 115,990t was the destination for 94pc of Australia’s February sorghum exports, followed by Taiwain on 4560t and The Philippines on 2732t.

Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said February was the second-biggest month in more than a year for barley shipments.

“The strong pace of barley is no surprise, with excellent demand noted from a broad range of buyers across both feed and malting use,” Mr Roache said.

With around 60pc market share, which remains lower than expectations held by many, China has underpinned the program.

“We continue to see strong buying from the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and now Iran all taking good volumes in February, and following a good January.

“This is testament to barley’s overall competitiveness into feed rations and the relative tightness for barley in the Northern Hemisphere.

“We expect this to continue into March and April at least.”

Japan has also posted strong February numbers in the Asian market, but South and Central American shipments were absent.

“We will likely see them return in the next months.”

“Malting shipments remained very China-centric, but note there is a lot of FAQ and malting barley shipping sitting in the feed column.”

Mr Roache said total March barley shipments are expected to be around 800,000-900,000t, with April sitting around 500,000t with upside.

“We have seen significant business for the May-June period and it is likely that exportable stocks will be well drawn down as we roll into July, with little remaining to go.

“We continue to see fresh inquiry from Chinese consumers into the back half of the year and China’s market share is likely to grow as Northern Hemisphere harvest pressure eats away at Middle East competitiveness.”

Mr Roache said barley has continued its run to “a very tight ending-stocks scenario”, and strong demand has been bolstered by news of Chinese tariffs, which spark the need for its feed sector to replace US sorghum.

“The continuing poor weather across South Australia and Victoria are leaving the market wondering where to go next as Western Australia runs out of bullets.”

As expected, sorghum exports jumped in February after some quiet months.

“New-crop availability, along with chickpeas slowing down and easing pressure on the logistics and shipping stem are the reasons for the jump, and we expect more to come.

“It remains all about China and that is very likely to remain the case in the short term, given Beijing’s announcement of 34pc retaliatory tariffs on US imports on Friday.

“Trump’s threats of a further 50pc in tariffs only make the situation worse, with the implication that Beijing will follow suit in retaliation.

“The US is the largest sorghum exporter globally and it is shut out of China, the biggest buyer.

“This is very supportive of Australia’s demand profile for sorghum and barley.

“Expect the red grain to explode on to shipping stems in response to above slack capacity and strong demand.

“This is a great opportunity for Australian growers.”

10 April, 2025