Australia: Solid cropping season as production jumps on northern and Western success

Rural Bank is forecasting a markedly improved Australian wheat crop of 31.2 million tonnes, up 19 per cent year on year, while barley production is up 5pc to 11.1m tonnes. After the big harvest the challenges will now come in finding markets for the grain. Rural Bank senior manager of industry affairs, Neil Burgess said while there was a tight supply scenario for barley, which will keep demand from China strong, the early indications were that wheat was not moving as quickly. "Wheat exports have been sluggish at the start of the 2024/25 marketing season and while Australian markets are pricing in export demand, the current price level is not yet competitive enough to capture a larger share of the global market," Mr Burgess said. "To establish a stronger position ahead of the northern hemisphere harvest, Australia will need to ramp up exports more aggressively in early 2025." This could see prices come back to become more competitive on the global stage. However, in good news for ...