Australia exported 417,215 tonnes of feed barley, 55,720t of malting barley and 50,115t of sorghum in January, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. January’s feed barley exports represent a drop of 61 percent from the December total, with Saudi Arabia on 115,219t, Jordan on 91,280t and The Philippines on 56,332t the biggest customers.
Malting barley exports in January were up 154pc on the December total, with Mexico on 33,000t, South Korea on 11,027t and Singapore on 5536t the largest markets. January sorghum exports rose 12pc from the December total, with Japan being the surprise volume customer on 31,564t, ahead of China on 17,223t and The Philippines on 904t. Flexi Grain pool manager Sam Roache said while exports of feed barley to Middle East destinations and Japan fell away in January, an uptick was seen in shipments to The Philippines and Thailand. “Demand in South-east Asia is slowly picking up due to the good relative value of barley into feed rations versus feed wheat and corn,” Mr Roache said. “The reason for the overall drop in tonnage is not structural and is not a reflection of a sharp drop in demand for barley. “The reality is that December was a big-volume month for barley and we often see a small month following a large one.” Shipping stems for February and March point to barley shipments ...