No anti-dumping duties or tariffs have been applied by China to Australian barley exports in the wake of dumping allegations being levelled against Australia.

The Federal Government insists an application by China’s ministry of commerce to investigate allegations of Australian barley exporters “dumping” produce at below the cost of production were made before APEC and should not be seen as unusual.

And while the Government maintains it is committed to maintaining a respectful relationship with China amid the investigation, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham reiterated his position that the allegations were “unsubstantiated”.

While political insiders have speculated the investigation coincided with Australia’s joint military program announcement with the US at the recent APEC summit in Papua New Guinea, Senator Birmingham said it was not unusual for countries to investigate dumping allegations made by local businesses or industry groups.

“People shouldn’t read any more into this than regulatory authorities doing their job, with whom we will of course co-operate,” Senator Birmingham said.

The impact of the announcement on the grain market has levelled out one week after news broke of anti-dumping investigations.

iGrain strategy general man­ager Duncan Whittle said the market reacted strongly as news of the allegations broke, but recovered relatively quickly.

“It did react very quickly,” Mr Whittle said. “The market dropped between $20 and $30, but come the end of the week, it’s pretty well recovered.”

Mr Whittle said the allegations were not the biggest problem facing the grains industry this season. “The bigger problem is lack of yield, full stop,” Mr Whittle said.

Prices for Feed 1 barley delivered to Melbourne this week was fetching $382 a tonne, down slightly on last week’s $384 a tonne.