SAUDI Arabia has bought up big at its latest barley tender, with Australia the major beneficiary.
According to Thomas Elder Markets around 600,000 tonnes of the 660,000 tonnes tendered at the transaction will be supplied by Australia.
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And the prices were good from what is traditionally a particularly price-conscious customer, with average free on board (FOB) values of $A358 a tonne.
South Australia is likely to be one of the big winners, with Viterra winning 360,000 tonnes at the tender.
Mr Whitelaw said Australian barley was currently very competitive on the world stage.
"Australian barley is in demand and these sort of sales are getting rid of a large volume of grain at a very good price," he said.
Mr Whitelaw said high global prices had meant fears the Chinese tariffs would have a catastrophic impact on Australian sales had been allayed.
"It has been a good set of circumstances, there was a big crop but there is strong demand for it."
Mr Whitelaw said China's massive purchases of feed grain in recent weeks may be spurring other grain consumers to secure stocks earlier.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is Fairfax Ag Media's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his ten years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector. Away from work, he is a keen traveller, having spent his long service leave last year in Spain learning the language.
Gregor Heard is Fairfax Ag Media's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his ten years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector. Away from work, he is a keen traveller, having spent his long service leave last year in Spain learning the language.
