Miller Magazine Issue: 134 February 2021

16 NEWS MILLER / february 2021 Despite warnings that Chinese authorities might block Australian wheat amid an esca- lating political row, wheat exports to China surged in December, underscoring a year in which overall trade between the countries approached a record high. Australia shipped 600,000 tons of wheat to China in December, the largest-ever monthly wheat export total from Australia to any single country. Australia’s wheat exports to China booming despite trade war After three months in which there had been no whe- at trade between the two countries, hundreds of thou- sands of tonnes changed hands in December, valued at $191.2 million, according to preliminary trade data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ex- change came in sharp contrast to the tensions that ro- cked the China-Australia relationship for most of 2020. Based on the preliminary international data, Austra- lia’s total goods exported to China reached A$145.2 billion for 2020. That would be just 2.16 per cent less than 2019’s A$148.4 billion total, which was the hig- hest recorded in ABS data since 1988. Amid blistering demand from grain-short Chinese importers, in part due to supply shortages in competing Black Sea markets, Australia shipped 600,000 tons of wheat to China in December, and a further 110,000 tonnes in January, according to commodities analyst S&P Global Platts. The bumper sale to China in De- cember accounted for a third of all wheat exported from Australia, and was its largest-ever monthly wheat export to any single country, the ABS said. Australia’s 600,000-tonne shipment was well ahead of its last record single shipment of wheat at 400,000 tonnes in early 2014, according to S&P Global Platts agricultural pricing editor Takmila Shahid. “Given dec- reasing competition from export restrictions in Russia, Australia is well-placed to supply wheat not only to eastern Asia but also markets in the Middle East and Africa, regions where Black Sea and European suppliers traditionally dominate,” Shahid said. The 600,000-tonne shipment was booked in Septem- ber, and its successful export in December was a good sign that Australian wheat orders were not being tur- ned away, unlike other commodities such as coal had been. Chinese buyers were drawn to lower Australian wheat prices as well as its plentiful supply, particularly after Russia – the world’s leading wheat exporter – cur- bed its exports on the back of domestic food inflation by introducing an export tax between last February and June. The flow-on effect led to a rise in Russian wheat