Nick Goddard, chief executive officer of the Australian Oilseeds Federation, explains how dependent Australia’s oilseed export industry is on ocean shipping.
The old adage of oil and water not mixing is far from the truth when it comes to Australia’s $3.5 billion oilseed industry. With over $1.5 billion worth of exports each year, all of which are shipped by sea, the Australian oilseed industry is highly reliant on the global shipping network to realise the full value of the industry – from the farmgate right through to export-oriented food and feed processors.
The Australian oilseed industry, comprising the production and processing of oilseeds such as canola, sunflower, safflower and soybean, has a production footprint covering the length and breadth of the country, from south western Western Australia to Far North Queensland. Australia has an export footprint ranging from the well-established markets of China, Japan and the European Union (EU), to markets as exotic as Bermuda, Colombia and Madagascar.
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The Australian market is dominated by canola, due to the suitability of this crop as a profitable rotation crop in the winter cereal farming systems. Consequently, the processing and export capacity is geared towards canola, with over a million tonnes of canola seed processed domestically per year, into vegetable oil and protein meal; and 2.31 million tonnes of seed, oil and meal exported per annum.
Europe is the largest destination for Australian canola seed, with the major ports such as Hamburg, Rotterdam and Ghent, receiving on average one million tonnes of Australian canola per annum as bulk cargo, shipped mostly from Western Australian ports of Geraldton, Kwinana, Albany and Esperance, and South Australian ports of Adelaide and Port Lincoln. When the growing seasons are favourable, and the east coast of Australia produces a surplus of canola, ports such as Portland, Geelong and Port Kembla, also ship to Europe.
