Australia exported more than 127,000 tonnes of beef last month, a record for April.
The biggest customer was the United States (37,213 tonnes), followed by China (21,572 tonnes).
The record month for Australia comes as beef exports from the United States to China have ground to a halt.
However, many analysts feel it is too early to attribute Trump tariffs and trade wars to the noticeable uptick in exports.
Meat and Livestock Australia’s global supply analyst, Tim Jackson, said the surge in export volumes was fundamentally because of record supply.
“Last year we saw record beef exports and record beef production [in Australia] and we are well-positioned to achieve that again this year,” he said.
“Australia has a large herd, rising slaughter rates and carcass weights have been lifting consistently, so when measured in tonnes, our production is going up and that good supply flows into exports.”
China has ramped up its imports of Australian grain-fed beef. (ABC Landline)
China’s grain-fed beef binge
Australia’s feedlot sector is also on the rise, and last month the nation exported more than 37,000 tonnes of grain-fed beef — which is a record for any month.
China bought one-third of that product and so far this year has imported about 42,000 tonnes of grain-fed beef from Australia, up 36 per cent on the same period last year.
Mr Jackson was reluctant to say how much of a role the trade war between the US and China had played.
“It’s difficult to say at the moment, these are fairly early figures and we’d need to wait for more information to come out and get a better understanding of that trade dynamic,” he said.
There were 6,200 head of cattle for sale at Wodonga this week, a record yarding for the month of May. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)
According to Global Agritrends, beef exports from the United States to China have dried up and Chinese importers recently cancelled orders for 5,500 tonnes.
It is reporting that other international markets have “absorbed the lost Chinese volumes” with South Korea and Japan in particular buying big.
Cattle pour into saleyards
Meanwhile, cattle flooded into southern saleyards of Australia this week as the dry weather forced producers to sell.
There was a record yarding at Wagga Wagga on Monday of nearly 8,700 head.
The national livestock reporting service described it as “an unprecedented influx of cattle that surprised agents”.
Wagga Wagga and Wodonga also had record yardings this week, with dry weather forcing producers to sell. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)
“The surge in numbers is primarily attributed to ongoing water issues and a lack of feed, which have forced many farmers to sell, with some farmers having no choice but to commence liquidating their cow herds,” wrote market reporter Leann Dax.
“Agents in Wagga expect this trend to continue as conditions remain dire.”
Nearly 10,000 head of cattle are booked in for sale at Wagga on Monday.
At Wodonga on Thursday about 6,200 head were penned, which was a record yarding for May.
Speaking to ABC Landline, livestock agent Katie Lewis said prices held firm thanks to demand from feedlots and producers further north who have green grass.
Katie Lewis says producers selling cattle because of the drought have received good prices this week at Wodonga. (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)
“A lot of farmers that went through the process of feeding livestock last year have decided they’re not doing it again this year,” she said.
“A lot of people have decided to bite the bullet, the money is good and they’ve decided to sell early.
“There’s been good support from our friends in the north who have had a cracking start to the year and are here today buying, so the energy at the sale has been really positive.”
The national cattle indicators eased across the board this week, including the processor cow indicator falling 22 cents a kilogram to reach its lowest level of the year.
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