EXCLUSIVE-China snaps up Australian canola after trade spat with Canada, sources say

By Naveen Thukral, Ella Cao and Peter Hobson

SINGAPORE/BEIJING/CANBERRA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chinese state trading firm COFCO has bought up to nine 60,000-metric-ton cargoes of Australian canola, three trade sources told Reuters, after Beijing last month imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on imports of the oilseed from traditional supplier Canada.

The purchases amount to around 540,000 tons, equivalent to about 8% of China's total canola imports last year.

Beijing is conducting an anti-dumping probe into Canadian canola, and in August imposed preliminary duties of 75.8%, bringing shipments to a virtual standstill amid a larger diplomatic and trade dispute between the two nations.

Canada had been China's main supplier for the past several years, and the cargoes demonstrate China can find alternate sources of the oilseed as trade talks between Ottawa and Beijing drag on. Australia is a smaller producer than Canada, however, and may struggle to match the Canadian volumes.

All shipments are scheduled to load between November and January, said an Australia-based broker for agricultural products with direct knowledge of the deals. The nine cargoes include one that was reported by Reuters last month.

"It has been a typical buying operation by a Chinese company," said the Australia-based broker. "They just went in quietly and bought nine cargoes from several major trading companies in Australia."

COFCO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Australia had been frozen out of the Chinese market by biosecurity rules to prevent the spread of a fungal plant disease since 2020, but Reuters reported in July that Canberra was close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow for five trial cargoes.

Canola, or rapeseed, is crushed to produce cooking oil and other products. The meal left behind in the crushing process is used as livestock feed.

China is the world's biggest canola importer, taking in 6.4 million tons worth $3.4 billion last year, almost all of it from Canada, according to Chinese customs data.

Canada is the world's biggest exporter of canola and Australia is the second-biggest.

Earlier this month, China extended its investigation into Canadian canola imports to March 9, 2026, buying six more months for negotiations. A final ruling could maintain the duty rate, change it or remove it.