Also at ATBS, AEGIC technical malting guru Dr Qisen Zhang was on hand with information about AEGIC’s innovative MultiMalter, which will help the Australian barley industry assess new malting barley varieties faster. Click image to download MultiMalter poster.
Fresh from our recent work engaging with customers of Australian barley in China, AEGIC’s barley experts have been busy bringing market insights back to the Australian industry.
The 2024 Australian Barley Technical Symposium (ABTS) in Adelaide featured AEGIC Lead Markets Manager Mary Raynes speaking about global barley insights and AEGIC’s recent delegation to China, supported by National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR). Mary also spoke at the recent Grain Industry Association of WA’s annual Barley Forum.
AEGIC’s China delegation, which also featured InterGrain, Seednet, and Victorian grower Simon Tickner, confirmed that Chinese maltsters and brewers highly value the quality of Australian barley. More than 5.4 million metric tonnes of barley has been exported from Australia to China since tariff restrictions were lifted in August 2023.
Conversations with maltsters and brewers across China demonstrated that customers deeply appreciate the Australian barley industry’s efforts to strengthen relationships and provide technical support to help them maximise the value of Australian barley.
The premium beer segment in China has grown to 40%, driving demand for quality Australian malting barley, despite the production of beer dropping by 30% in 2024 to 350,000 million hectolitres from 500,000 million hectolitres in 2013. China also continues to demonstrate a strong purchase requirement for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) barley for both malting and feed amidst growing demand for meat protein.
Ms Raynes also covered the latest barley market trends, and Australia’s strong position in the global barley trade thanks to our world-leading farming and breeding sectors.
On average, 27-30mmt of barley is traded annually globally. China is the world’s largest barley importer, accounting for 46% of global barley imports in 2023-24 – an increase of 3.6mmt on long term average imports. Australia is the number one exporter of barley, accounting for one fifth or 20% of global trade.
Latin America and Mexico also highly value barley markets for Australian malting barley growers. These markets place a high value on high quality malting barley varieties, which Australia is well placed to provide. AEGIC has led market development work across Latin America and Mexico to diversify market options and reduce reliance on a single large market.
View presentation: Australia’s competitive advantage – sustaining high quality, high value barley markets
Beer and bugs?
Long-time AEGIC collaborator Dr Megan Edwards had something a little different for the audience. Megan showed how black soldier fly larvae can be a sustainable and economically attractive opportunity to upcycle brewers’ spent barley grain to generate high quality protein, fats and fertiliser.
View presentation: Beer, bugs & sustainability Part 2
Supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, AEGIC will also host a 10-day industry delegation to Australia from China to showcase the Australian barley supply chain and deliver market briefings to Australian growers aimed at building China literacy and capability, among other activities.
AEGIC is an initiative of the Western Australian State Government and Grains Australia.
