Australia & China: China importing Australian malting barley at ever-increasing rate
China has an unquenchable thirst for Australian malting barley, with the nation importing barley for beer making at an ever-increasing rate, The Weekly Times reported on July 31.
China imported almost six million tonnes of barley in 2016-17, with an average of 4.2 million tonnes exported from Australia each year as beer sales in China rise.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, barley exports from Australia to China have increased from 1.6 million tonnes in 2011-12 to 5.9 million tonnes in 2016-17.
“Chinese brewing companies are campaigning heavily on beer promotion, with the total volume of beer sold in China reaching 45.6 billion litres in 2016,” said Australian Export Grain Innovation Centre barley markets manager Mary Raynes.
“This equates to 138 billion 330ml beers, so it’s clear that this market is a very important one for Australia. Premium malting barley for brewing is where the best prices are, however feed barley has a larger export volume and this sector is showing strong growth.”
Ms Rayner said recent workshops in China attended by more than 160 representatives of major brewing companies, livestock industry, maltsters and traders, had increased understanding of the production, accreditation, and processing of Australian barley.
Grain Producers Australia southern region chairman Andrew Weidemann said the workshops allowed attendees to understand more about the effects of the Australian climate on grain quality.
“Their primary concerns are regarding quality, the level of protein, and the varieties and understanding Australian environmental conditions,” Mr Weidemann said.
AvantAgri grain analyst Malcolm Bartholomaeus said Australian barley exports to China had been rising in the past five years.
“China has had strict controls and import restrictions on corn, but sorghum and barley is relatively outside of regulations, so we’ve seen a dramatic lift in volume into the China market,” Mr Bartholomaeus said.
“The profitability of barley fell away quite sharply a few years ago, and global barley stocks are quite tight. China has been trying to source barley from wherever they can get it.
“We’ve been the beneficiary of that.”
Back
E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .
