In 2022, China bought 1.1 billion tonnes of iron ore, 65% of which were from Australia. For Beijing, commodities from Australia are important for its efforts to revive the pandemic-hit economy. Iron ore, for example, is a vital component of its steel industry.
Data released on Thursday showed exports of Australian goods to China hit 19 billion Australian dollars ($12.71bn) in March, a rise of 31 percent from a year earlier and pipping the previous peak from mid-2021.
China is Australia's largest export market for agricultural products, averaging $12.1 billion in value over the last five financial years. Total agricultural export value has averaged $47.5 billion over the same period, with exports to China accounting for 25.4 per cent.
In 2020, China's food imports from Australia amounted to around 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, up from about 2.08 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year.
In 2021, Brazil replaced the United States as China's largest agricultural supplier, providing 20 percent of China's agricultural imports.
> In 2021, the top 5 AFF exports from Western Australia were wheat ($3.3b), canola ($1.5b), barley ($1.2b), wool ($628.4m) and sheep meat ($573.8m). > Queensland's AFF exports increased +15.8% from $8.7b in 2020 to a record $10.1b in 2021.
Australia exports around 72% of the total value of agricultural, fisheries and forestry production. Export orientation of each industry can vary by commodity type. Wheat and beef, which are large sectors, are more export-focused than dairy, horticulture and pork (Figure 7).
Riverina New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania Export centres Mainly Tasmania Page 11 11 FRUIT AND VEGETABLES Page 12 12 FRUIT AND VEGETABLES Citrus is Australia's leading fruit export. In 2013, citrus exports totalled 170,000 tonnes worth A$190 million.
Trade and investment
China is Australia's largest two-way trading partner in goods and services, accounting for nearly one third (32.2 per cent) of our trade with the world.
In 2021, Australia exported $138B to China. The main products exported from Australia to China were Iron Ore ($95.7B), Petroleum Gas ($15B), and Gold ($5.86B). During the last 26 years the exports of Australia to China have increased at an annualized rate of 17.2%, from $2.24B in 1995 to $138B in 2021.
Aircraft, soybeans, motor vehicles and microchips are top U.S. exports to China. Since 2001, the share of these exports going to China has increased sharply. Soybeans and motor vehicles are targets of recent Chinese tariffs. Production of these two exports is geographically concentrated.
Australia Exports of rice to China was US$3.31 Thousand during 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Australia Exports of rice to China - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on May of 2023. We have a plan for your needs.
Iron ore, gas and coal make up the bulk of Australian exports to China (more than AUD 79 billion), but Australian service industries – led by education and tourism – are a growing part of the trade relationship.
U.S. exports have returned to trend growth experienced since the People's Republic of China's (PRC) accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in the last 2 years the United States has witnessed record export values to China for soybeans, corn, beef, chicken meat, tree nuts, and sorghum.
Australian consumers can be confident in our food security
Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, with ample supplies of safe, healthy food. The vast majority of our food is produced here in Australia, and domestic production more than meets our needs even during drought years.
Sugar cane is the most produced food commodity in Australia followed by wheat & barley. Sugar cane is the most produced food commodity in Australia followed by wheat & barley. Australia produces more than 32 million tonnes of sugar cane and 17 tonnes of wheat .
Australia is now a net importer (that is, we import more than we export) in six food categories: seafood, processed fruit and vegetables, soft drink, cordials and syrup, confectionary, bakery products and oils and fats.
Merchandise and service imports
Mechanical and electronic products made up more than half of the country's goods imports. In 2021, China's major import products included integrated circuits, crude oil, and iron ore.
Australia exported 266.2 million tonnes of iron ore to China in 2009 (A$21.7 billion in value terms), an increase of 45.2 per cent over the same period in 2008. Australia's coal exports to China grew by 1000 per cent last year to become our second largest export commodity, behind iron ore.
Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of coal, iron ore, lead and diamonds, with ores forming around 23.5% of Australian exports. According to the Minerals Council of Australia, iron ore is the country's largest source of export revenue.
The war in Ukraine has also boosted commodity prices, including wheat, Australia's largest agricultural export.
Other Australian vegetable exports which are growing from a small base include celery, lettuce, cabbage, frozen finger limes, and other frozen vegetables (Source: TradeMap – Trade statistics for international business development and Australian Bureau of Statistics).