Chinese craft brewers welcome the return of Australian barley imports

The return of Australian barley imports to China is welcome news for at least one industry – craft beer brewers – as they hope for much-needed cost reductions. The past three years have not been kind to China's nascent craft beer industry. First the pandemic kept customers away from bars, then the Chinese government imposed heavy anti-dumping duties on Australian barley and wine in 2020, widely seen as retaliation for Canberra's investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Tariffs on barley were cut last month after trade tensions eased. This helps reduce costs for all Chinese brewers, but especially for craft brewers who use pure malt and don't add other ingredients like broken rice or starch that make their products more expensive. In the three years before the tariffs were introduced, China bought 86-91% of Australian malting barley exports, Australian government data show. These shipments sometimes accounted for more than half of China's malting barley demand, depending on the ...