Australia’s largest sugar marketer, Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL), believes any ban by China on Australian sugar exports would be a concerning development for the industry but was unlikely to negatively impact QSL growers’ sugar returns.
QSL General Manager Marketing Mark Hampson said China was not traditionally a large market for QSL and no shipments were due to be loaded for China.
“At the moment, stronger returns are available in other Asian markets and so that’s where our sales program is focused,” Mr Hampson said.
“As a result, we’re not expecting any impacts on our 2020-Season pool returns should sales into China be restricted, and based on current market dynamics, we remain confident that our measured approach to the Shared Pool valuation stands us in good stead to improve on our present estimate before the end of the season.”
Despite QSL’s current focus on other export destinations, Mr Hampson said it was never good to lose a potential high-value market.
“QSL, like other agricultural exporters, relies on a number of markets for our goods and so we are doing our utmost to ensure trade flows to China are supported,” he said.
QSL exports approximately 2 million tonnes of Queensland raw sugar each year, with the vast majority of these sales made to refiners in Indonesia, South Korean and Japan.