Till end April 2021 Australia exported 10 MMT of wheat.  

With decent reserves and strong demand from South East Asia in particular it is quite likely exports will break 2017’s all-time annual record 22 MMT.

Indonesia is the no.1 export market with Australia shipping 2 MMT followed by Vietnam with 1.16, Philippines 0.7, Thailand 0.6 and Malaysia 0.5 MMT.

At this point last year China was Australia’s leading market for wheat but with ongoing political tensions between both countries shipments to China have shrunk to 0.5 MMT (0.7 MMT – 2020) as China also sources its wheat elsewhere notably from Canada and USA.

Australia has also transported wheat this year to markets virtually dormant for the past few years such as South Africa (for the first time in five years) at 0.3 MMT, Saudi Arabia also at 0.3, and Sri Lanka at 0.25.

Aid cargoes to Yemen have more than doubled at 0.35 MMT.

Strong shipments to South East Asia have particularly benefited the supra-ultramax sector; exports in the larger geared vessels now account for 51% of all Australia’s wheat shipments up from 38% last year. Panamaxes carry about 20% more often to Japan , South Korea and China, whilst the balance is carried in handysize.

All sectors have seen a rise in volume compared to the drought years 2019 and 2020 when only 3.5 and 4 MMT respectively had been shipped during the same time period.