Australia's oat product exports have reached a record high of 127,791 Mt with one month remaining in the calendar year (see chart right). The current pace would suggest a final 2020 export of between 135-140,000 Mt. Strong global demand for oat products have been driving the Australian numbers to record highs.
Product export demand has been climbing at a rate of 4.5% annually with growth expected to remain strong into 2025 as longer-term oat-related food demand forecasts also remain solid.
Exports to the Top-Five destinations (74% of the market) climbed a combined 6.1% YTD. It's interesting to note in this group the combined negative 2.3% growth over the past five years. Only the Philippines and China are showing positive growth (see detail pg. 3). YTD gains however are reported for Taiwan, up 0.3%, Malaysia up 18.7%, Japan up 20%, and the Philippines up 12.6%. India's demand is down 25.5% YTD.
China's demand is up 43.7% YOY and looks to be a longer-term volume growth market, particularly with the closure of a major oat mill in China.
Vietnam also posted solid YTD gains along with Indonesia.
Western Australia, the largest exporting state (74.3% market share) is up 20.1% YTD. Victoria exports are up 123% with South Australia down 68%. These three states account for 99.6% of total Australian oat product exports.
The product mix is dominated by rolled/flaked oats at a 78.6% share with worked oats accounting for 21.4% (see pg. 3). Flakes/rolled exports are growing at an annual rate of 3.1% with worked oat exports at 10.2%.