February 16, 2009

Beef production in Australia, a major global supplier, rose in the fourth quarter of 2008 to a trend estimate 539,977 tonnes from 538,504 tonnes in the third quarter, up 2.9 percent on year, reports the government's Bureau of Statistics.

The total number of cattle slaughtered, excluding calves, in the fourth quarter was 2.03 million beasts, down 1.0 percent on quarter and down 3.6 percent on year, it reported.

Australia, the second-biggest beef exporter in the world after Brazil, exports about two-thirds of its production, with the overall level of exports closely tied to production.

The bureau doesn't comment on the data.

Live cattle exports remained steady at 227,000 beasts in the fourth quarter from the third quarter while gross value of exports rose 19 percent on quarter to A$167 million. The unit value of exports also jumped 19 percent to A$737.23 per beast.

Live sheep exports rose 12 percent on quarter to 1.2 million head in the fourth quarter, with gross value leaping 17 percent on quarter to A$101 million and unit value edging 4 percent higher on quarter to A$82.21.

AUSTRALIAN MEAT PRODUCTION