November 1, 2007

 

Australian agriculture ministry opens the way for grain imports

 

 

Australia is suffering a shortage of grain and despite the high cost, supplies might need to be imported at some point in 2008, Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said Thursday. (November 1, 2007).

 

However, high global prices for grain, coupled with the cost of transporting and treating livestock feed and grain on arrival, means imports might not be as economical as initially thought, he said.

 

McGauran was commenting while announcing that 12 types of stockfeed have been approved for importation to Australia.

 

"While no applications have yet been made to import these alternative feeds, the current lack of feedgrain reserves, combined with the cost of grains domestically, may make these imports a more viable alternative at some stage," he said in a statement.

 

Agencies Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, or AQIS, and Biosecurity Australia have been carrying out advanced work on stockfeed imports for more than a year, with both giving the potential for imported feed the highest priority, he said.

 

The government will process any application should there be industry interest, he said.

 

On Tuesday, major livestock feed user groups called on the government to expedite approvals of grain import license applications.

 

McGauran said imported grains must be bought from low risk sources, and the grain must be processed in Australia's metropolitan areas of ports, under AQIS supervision. Stockfeeds must be heat-treated to address risks of contamination, inspected and audited by AQIS Officers.

 

AQIS is assessing grain storage and processing facilities for registration as quarantine approved premises, he said.

 

"I fully appreciate the critical situation feedgrain-dependent industries face as a result of the severe grain shortages and record high international prices," he said.

 

There is no single solution to record high global grains prices, but the government and industry are determined to address the matter through ongoing cooperation, he said.

 

"The Coalition (Government) is committed to assisting these producers through these desperately difficult times," he said.

 

Grains approved for import are wheat and rye from Canada; wheat from Britain; corn and sorghum from certain states of the US.; corn, sunflower, sorghum, soybean and wheat from Argentina; soybean from Paraguay; and a number of alternative stockfeeds from various countries, he said.

 

Biosecurity Australia is undertaking pest and disease assessments for wheat and sunflower seed from the Ukraine, corn from South Africa and corn from several additional US states, namely Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, he said.

 

Wheat production from a wheat crop to be harvested by year end is now estimated at 12.1 million tonnes, down from an estimated 15.5 million tonnes in September and down from a forecast 22.5 million tonnes in June, when optimism about the crop was high, the government's commodities forecaster, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics, reported Tuesday.

 

Actual output from last year's drought-affected crop was 9.8 million tonnes.

 

After domestic wheat demand of around 7 million tonnes is met, the balance will be available for exports, making Australia a much smaller global supplier of the grain than in many previous years.

 

Stocks of wheat fell 39 percent on month in September to 1.7 million metric tonnes, and barley stocks slumped 30 percent on month to 577,000 tonnes, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday. Total grain stocks fell 35 percent on month to 2.8 million tonnes.

 

At the end of October last year, total grain stocks stood at 10.5 million tonnes, while wheat stocks were 7.6 million tonnes and barley stocks were 1.7 million tonnes.