February 2, 2007

 

Australia's December 2006 beef output up 0.9 percent on-month to 190,188 tonnes

 

 

Beef production in Australia, the second biggest global beef exporter, rose 0.9 percent on-month in December 2006 to a seasonally adjusted 190,188 tonnes, 12 percent higher than in December 2005, the government's Bureau of Statistics reported Friday.

 

December's cattle slaughter number, excluding calves, totalled 715,500 beasts, down 0.4 percent on-month but up 15 percent from December 2005, it reported.

 

The trend estimate, a measure that further smoothes seasonally adjusted data, for beef production, rose 0.3 percent on-month in December to 190,700 tonnes, the seventh consecutive monthly rise and the highest level since records began in 1979.

 

The bureau does not comment on the data, which show the continuing impact of a drought on the cattle industry.

 

Deteriorating pastures and decreasing water availability as the drought intensified through late 2006 sharply increased cattle slaughter numbers, boosting beef production, compared with 2005.

 

Australia, the second biggest global beef exporter after Brazil, sends about two-thirds of its beef production overseas, with about 90 percent of exports destined for Japan, the US and South Korea.

 

The level of exports is closely tied to production.

 

                        Australian meat production
           (seasonally adjusted,  Unit: tonnes, carcass weight)

 

                    Dec 2006    Nov 2006     Dec 2005

Beef              190,188     188,544       169,868

Veal               2,695        3,016          2,444

Mutton            24,621      25,626         20,088

Lamb              34,274      33,527        30,603

Pork               31,954      31,747         32,004

 

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics)