Industries hit by Beijing’s trade sanctions say they are keen to return to the lucrative Chinese market if bans are lifted, although they will be cautious about becoming too reliant on a single customer again to hedge against future tensions.
Grain Producers Australia southern director Andrew Weidemann said it was encouraging high-level dialogue had restarted but “we’re not holding our breath on this”.
He said the industry had conservatively lost about $2 billion in sales since China imposed tariffs, with barley selling at a $50 a tonne discount to the benchmark price it used to fetch.
“There is a genuine appetite to get back into the Chinese market,” Mr Weidemann said.
“The Chinese contacts I personally have still love Australian barley because they know it’s the best. They know it doesn’t have issues with mould like other countries because of our harvest conditions.”
Opmerkingen