China buying drives surge in Australia January wheat exports

Australia exported 2,718,404 tonnes of wheat and 500t of durum in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure is up 97pc on total exports for December, with a surge in volume shipped to China the driver.

In containerised exports, Australia shipped 156,540t of wheat and 500t of durum in January, with Taiwan on 26,014t, Thailand on 22,278t, and Indonesia on 22,078t the three largest boxed markets.

Bulk exports saw 2,561,864t of wheat shipped in January, with China on 960,328t the biggest destination by far.

While January’s containerised wheat exports to China were up 32pc from the December figure, bulk exports more than quadrupled from 234,410t.

The second-biggest volume market for January bulk wheat exports was Indonesia on 525,913t, more than triple the December volume of 155,280t.

Bulk shipments to The Philippines on 217,104t were up marginally for the month to put it in third place, while Japan was the fourth-largest bulk market with 212,626t.

Bulk exports to Japan were more than triple the December figure.

While Australia’s export year officially starts in October, the full force of new-crop volume was not seen until January.

This is because Australia’s areas which harvest early, namely Queensland, northern New South Wales, and Western Australia’s Geraldton zone had relatively low-yielding seasons.

Table 1: Australian containerised wheat and durum exports in November and December 2023 and January 2024. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian wheat exports in November and December 2023 and January 2024.

Tags: Australia, export, wheat, shipments, Market, durum