Miller Magazine Issue: 123 March 2020

Australıa 87 MILLER / MARCH 2020 less than one-tenth the level of MY 2017/18. While last year some carry-in domestic rice stocks allowed for ex- ports despite the small harvest, this is not expected to be the case in MY 2019/20. In order to cover domestic needs, imports for MY 2019/20 are forecast to rise to record levels, with imports forecast at 300,000 MT. Thai- land is typically the largest supplier to Australia, followed by India. AN IMPORTANT PULSE EXPORTER Australia’s diverse agro-climatic zones produce a wide array of high-quality pulse grains. Pulses are an import- ant enterprise in the Australian grains industry. Australia produces an average of 2.2 million mmt of pulses from more than 1.8 million hectares. Research and develop- ment show there is potential to increase plantings to 4.2 million hectares. New South Wales, Western Australia, and South Australia regularly produce the largest quan- tity of pulses in Australia. A wide range of pulse crops are produced across Australia including dry field pea, dry faba bean, chickpea, lentil, lupin and mungbean. A large proportion of the Australian pulse crop is exported to in- ternational markets. The pulse industry’s growth is one of the keys to the future sustainability of the whole Australian grains indus- try because of its importance in enhancing cereal crop- ping systems. Pulses provide a profitable cropping option as well as adding to the success of the whole farm enter- prise as part of a longer-term cropping rotation. AUSTRALIAN FLOUR MILLING INDUSTRY Significant rationalization has occurred in Australian grain milling over past decades. In the 1870s there were more than 500 flour mills in Australia using steam, water or wind as the power source, with most large country towns having their own flour mill. With improved tech- nology, larger mills, and less overseas demand for the milled product, the number of mills in Australia has now declined to the order of 28 spread across all States and situated in both metropolitan and country areas. This continuous trend of fewer but larger capacity mills with fewer employees is common to countries with highly ma- ture milling industries. However, with the growth in Aus- tralia's population, demand for flour products at home has increased steadily. Annual domestic human consumption of flour is about 1.5 million tonnes and a further 440 thousand tonnes of flour is used for industrial purposes such as starch and gluten. In addition, a variable tonnage of flour products is sold into export markets. Total production in the order of 2.1 million tones increase of 26% over a decade. Of the flour sold for human consumption, just over 60% is used by specialized commercial bread bakers. SOURCES: https://www.aegic.org.au https://www.fas.usda.gov 9 - 11 July