SOUTH Australian grain business Australian Grain Export (AGE) is set to make history as the first Australian company to send barley to China following the lifting of 80 per cent tariffs on Australian barley last month.
The Majestic Island has loaded with around 66,000 tonnes of Western Australian barley, comprised of 49,000 tonnes out of the port of Kwinana and a further 17,000 tonnes at Esperance and is currently on its way to China.
Tyson Hewett, AGE's barley trader, said the company had a further three shipments booked already out of Western Australia as well as a further vessel from its home state of South Australia.
'It's exciting for Australian farmers and the industry in general to have China back in the market importing our barley," he said.
"They prefer Australian quality both in the feed and malting sectors and in recent times have rapidly become one of Australia's most important destinations for the grain."
"There are some really good opportunities in the export focused states like Western Australia and South Australia, with barley rising $65 a tonne in WA since the re-opening of the Chinese market."
"We've been busy in the background forming relationships with Chinese buyers, we've always been pretty confident the two governments would eventually work out a resolution to the issue.
"AGE's Managing Director, Tim Martin, is heading to China this month with SA Premier, Peter Malinauskas on a trade mission, further strengthening our relationship with this very important market".
He said AGE would be the first back into China because they had allocated shipping slots in anticipation that the Chinese market would re-open in time to ship old crop barley.
"We had a back-up plan with other destinations available if the tariffs weren't lifted in time, but China was definitely the preferred option if we could get it there.
"With the assistance of CBH's port operations team we were able to organise our logistics and get the grain loaded promptly once access was granted."
He said growers could see the importance of the market, which was formerly Australia's largest trading partner in barley.
"It's been a good win for the growers, they've seen prices kick strongly since the news of the tariffs lifting.
"From our own perspective we have been out there actively supporting the barley market with the destinations available to us but there is no denying that having China back in the mix this is a positive event that should underpin barley prices in Australia for the foreseeable future."
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 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.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 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.
