The market outlook for Australian mungbeans looks strong, according to mungbean exporter and Australian Mungbean Association (AMA) president James Hunt.
Mr Hunt said he believed a combination of factors were positively impacting the Australian industry’s immediate prospects and would continue to support good prices for growers seeking to plant mungbeans this coming summer.
“The widening reduction between China’s domestic production and domestic demand, in conjunction with decreasing supply from dominant supplier Myanmar, bodes well for imports of high-quality mungbeans from Australia,” Mr Hunt said.
“China remains Australia’s most important market and sets the tone for Australian mungbean prices taking more than 50 per cent of our exports,” he said.
“Perceptions are key and Australia has worked hard to overcome inconsistent recent growing seasons to produce consistent, high-quality beans, which are favoured by Chinese buyers.”
Mr Hunt highlighted the important contribution made by improved AMA-licenced varieties from the National Mungbean Improvement Program, underpinned by the AMA grading standards, which served to enhance Australia’s international reputation as a provider of
consistent, high-quality mungbeans.
“Australia’s mungbean growers have also played a terrific role in producing quality mungbeans, sometimes under challenging growing conditions such as has been experienced in recent seasons,” he said.
Mr Hunt said many growers had identified the consistency in mungbean pricing available from season-to-season as a positive, particularly as other commodity prices have tended to be more volatile.
This had supported the longer-term inclusion of mungbeans as a profitable, short-rotation summer crop in farming systems.
Already worth more than $150 million per annum, in the medium term Mr Hunt said he believed there was further opportunity for growth in Australian mungbean production as the processing capacity and international demand existed to support increased production.
“As the international mungbean trading market continues to grow, opportunities are also emerging for premium, niche supply arrangements, such as those customers seeking product produced with specific chemical use,” Mr Hunt explained.
“While these markets remain in their infancy, growers interested in considering production changes to meet these opportunities should consider speaking with their marketers in order to understand the options that may exist in the future.”
Mr Hunt stressed that whatever market growers were targeting, to maximise their chances of meeting market expectations – and greater financial reward – growers should seek out proven, AMA-approved varieties produced specifically for Australian conditions, such as Australia’s most popular variety, JADE-AU.
