Source: APKinform (Ukraine)
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in October exports of Australian barley amounted to 130.01 thousand tons, of which 90.68 thousand tons of feed barley and 39.33 thousand tons of malting barley. At the same time, this volume is less than half of the amount shipped in September, reflecting the annual decline in stocks, and reached the lowest monthly figure in many years, grain central reported.
In particular, the main importer of feed barley from Australia was China – 79.18 thousand tons (87% of total shipments), followed by Thailand – 5.39 thousand tons and Vietnam – 1.99 thousand tons. At the same time, malting barley was actively purchased by Japan (22.09 thousand tons), China (11.25 thousand tons) and Mexico (3 thousand tons).
According to Flexi Grain experts, demand in China has been consistently high lately, it is expected that in November supplies in this direction will amount to about 700 thousand tons, and in December – more than 800 thousand tons. At the same time, the contracted volume for January exceeds 300 thousand tons. In general, the lower availability of barley in the world, including from Australia, is expected to limit China’s purchases in the current season to 10-11 million tons against a record 16 million tons in the previous MY.
Australia also reduced sorghum exports in October – by 42% against the level in September, to 188.56 thousand tons, of which 184.71 thousand tons were shipped to China.