Australia ships 762,869t canola in February

Australia exported 762,869 tonnes of canola in February, up 80 percent from the 424,712t shipped in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Japan an 163,734t followed by Germany on 125,412t and Mexico on 85,586t were the three largest markets for February-shipped canola.

Year on year, the February 2024 figure sits well above the 592,027t shipped in February 2023, when Belgium, The Netherlands and Japan were the three largest markets.

According to Lachstock Consulting’s April 3 Supply and Demand Report – Canola,  Australia is expected to export around 1.7 million tonnes (Mt) of canola over February, March and April.

“This would put export pace at just over 3.61Mt, down 16pc from last year, and puts us on track at around 66pc of our total export forecast for the year,” the report said.

Growers across southern Australia are making a start on planting their 2024-25 canola.

“A recent improvement in canola values compared to wheat is likely to result in more canola area being retained in rotations than our previous estimate for the eastern states.

“We still expect canola to lose some area to cereals, but strong oat and pulse values will win some hectares too.

“We have had a hot and dry February-March for most major canola-growing regions in the eastern states.

“Although subsoil moisture is still good, many growers will need to see a good rainfall event between now and sowing, which will ideally kick off at the end of April.”

Western Australia remains in need of rain.

“Recent rainfall events have been disappointing for most growers in WA.

“It remains a watch point as we get closer to sowing, particularly as the latest forecast is for hot and dry conditions to continue into April.”

Table 1: Australian canola exports for December 2023 and January and February 2024. Source: ABS

Tags: Australia, export, canola, Mexico, forecast, Germany, Japan, markets