Thailand’s demand for Australian wheat is booming

Australia’s feed wheat exports to Thailand surged 700 per cent in 2020-21, hitting a record 460,000 tonnes as the South-East Asian nation feeds its burgeoning poultry and pork herds. Thailand is buying more Australian grain than ever, with its overall wheat imports hitting 780,000 tonnes last grain marketing year — up 170 per cent. Of that, a record 460,000 tonnes was feed wheat — up 700 per cent compared to 2019-20 – while about 320,000 tonnes was milling wheat. CBH Group marketing and trading general manager Jason Craig said Thailand had ramped up its purchasing of Australian grain from 450,124 tonnes in 2019-20, with a dramatic increase in its purchase of feed wheat in particular. He said Thailand was a “consistent” customer and would normally take about 400,000 tonnes of predominantly milling wheat from Australia each year. “Thailand has been a very consistent customer for milling wheat, but in the past few years it has increased its demand for feed during the past two or three years,” Mr Craig said. “There has been a big push for Australian wheat and barley into those markets. Industry has worked hard to develop that market for feed wheat and barley. “The main influence has been the competitiveness of Australian grain into that market. “Our wheat is competitive against North America, which is in a drought, and Russia, which is suffering from lower production and an export tax.” Mr Craig said Australian wheat was — to some extent — being used as a substitute for corn to create feed rations for poultry and livestock, and was more front of mind as a feed ration due to an Australian industry push. It imported 300,000 tonnes of wheat from Australia in April this year. Thailand is also Australia’s second-largest feed barley customer after Saudi Arabia, importing a record 800,102 tonnes of Australian feed barley in 2020-21. Federal Government figures show Thailand imported more than 800,000 tonnes of barley from Australia during the 2019-20 marketing year, up from 295,870 in 2018-19. About 60 per cent of the 800,000 tonnes of barley was exported from WA. Despite the big rise in wheat imports from Australia, Thailand’s total wheat imports fell 5 per cent year-on-year due to a COVID-19-induced recession. The United States Department of Agriculture’s latest Thailand grain and feed update revealed COVID-19 had caused various issues for the country’s agricultural supply chains. This included lower domestic consumption of wheat-based products, with an economic recession in 2021 and 2020 due to the reduced number of foreign tourists. Thailand’s domestic consumption of wheat is expected to recover, with the number of foreign tourists expected to increase to six million in 2022.