Australia December canola exports up 4pc from November

Australia exported 564,293 tonnes of canola in December, up 4 percent from 543,305t shipped in November, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

As with November, Germany was the largest-volume market, and in December was the destination for 125,134, followed by France on 98,123t and Japan on 97,998t.

The December 2023 total is 20pc below the 703,205t shipped in December 2022 to reflect the smaller crop, diminished export demand, and a shipping stem dominated by wheat and barley cargoes.

In its most recent GM Canola Market Wire released January 31, Lachstock Consulting said around 500,000t was expected to be shipped in January also.

“Farmer selling has been somewhat subdued given the declines in prices over the last few months, along with the better relative prices on offer for barley and wheat,” the Lachstock report stated.

“Moving forward, the focus of the market will be on the heavy logistical challenge as it attempts to keep up with the strong export pace.

“We may see some short covering at times as we work into the second half of our export program.

“From here, the focus shifts to the new season planting conditions.

“Whilst the wet weather has been a bit of a headache for many growers finishing up harvest, it has also reduced concerns around the El Niño driven drought and lack of subsoil moisture that we thought may be on the cards getting into our 2024 planting windows.”

Tags: crop, Germany, Market, Japan, demand, Australia, export, barley, canola, France, wheat