China books an estimated 250k mt of Australian milling wheat

China returned to the market for Australian wheat for August-September shipment despite ongoing geopolitical and trade tensions between the two countries, trade sources said on Tuesday.

China was said to be in the market recently and booked around 200,000-250,000 mt of wheat for August-September shipment, according to traders and brokers.

There was no firm idea on the price paid, with sources putting the price in a wide $285/mt-$300/mt FOB East Coast range, saying that it was high protein wheat that was sold.

The trades come after Australia successfully shipped around 1.3 million mt through the December-April period, with the April amount standing at 173,656 mt, according to official data.

Relations between the two countries soured through 2020 and China effectively banned Australian barley imports by slapping a steep import duty on the origin, although wheat remained untouched.