March 4, 2011

Chinese dairy firm keen on Australian hay

The Shanghai Dairy Group is looking to secure oaten hay from Australia to supply the country's expanding dairy industry.

The Chinese dairy giant is meeting with Australian exporters to secure 200,000 tonnes oaten hay over the next five years.

Currently Australia exports 10,000 tonnes to China annually.

"China is experiencing very fast dairy development in history and China needs good quality oaten hay from Australia," the company's general manager said.

"Right now, there are 17 suppliers approved by the Australian Government. I'm pretty confident Australia has the ability to satisfy our demand."

China has 14 million dairy cows, almost 10 times the size of the Australian dairy herd.

The country imported 80,000 cows last year from overseas, of which 70,000 came from Australia.