AUSTRALIAN farmgate production is on track for a record-breaking $66.3bn year according to the Australian government.
ABARES acting executive director Dr Jared Greenville said the value of agricultural exports is forecast at just under $47bn in 2020-21.
“ABARES has revised both the gross value of production and the value of exports up by $400m from earlier estimates,” Dr Greenville said.
“This is due to strong domestic livestock prices, and because the pace of Australian grain exports has been faster than expected after harvesting the second largest winter crop on record.
“We have seen an impressive turnaround in wheat, barley and canola shipments. Particularly for barley, this result demonstrates the resilience of supply chains, the benefits of a diversified production base and access to a diverse range of international markets.”
While herd and flock rebuilding continues, more animals are expected to start flowing into meat processing in 2021-22, which will likely ease margin pressures on the red meat processing sector.
Next year (2021-22) the gross value of production is forecast to fall from the record high to a still impressive $65bn. The value of exports is forecast to grow to $49.7bn.
Minister for agriculture David Littleproud said it was a great result from a “booming” sector.
“Our farmers are finding new international markets and diversifying their production base,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We’ve just harvested the second largest winter crop on record and we’re now exporting grain faster than expected, with strong growth in our wheat, barley and canola exports.”
With the announcement of the UK FTA agreement, Australian farmers have yet another export market, according to Mr Littleproud.
“The Australian Government is backing our farmers all the way, with additional investments in the budget this year of over $400m to further strengthen biosecurity, $29.8m to grow the agricultural workforce, and $15m to improve trade and market access,” he said.
Outlook for citrus
After good rainfall in 2020, the 2021 Australian citrus harvest is looking up – expected to rise around 10% year-on-year.
At present, the orange harvest is estimated at 535,000 tonnes with mandarins sitting at 175,000 tonnes. Citrus exports are expected to reach 195,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes respectively, achieving a 3% rise year-on-year.
Shipping line ANL has reported that shippers of the South Australian harvest will see greater demand for cold treatment (ie. CSIT) shipments into designated markets requiring cold sterilisation protocols such as China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, USA and more. This is due to periodic outbreaks of fruit flies over the summer period.
Using ANL & CMA CGM’s cold treatment services, exporters can preserve their cargo quality by naturally exterminating all insects and larvae.
