March 12, 2008

Australia gains wider access to EU beef market

Australia will sell more beef into the high-valued EU market, including frozen cow beef for the first time, as EU banned Brazilian beef on safety issues.

In the latest export figures, Australian beef shipments to the EU has increased substantially, compared to exports to other countries which have fallen.

In February, Australian exports to the EU rose by 126 percent on-year.

The robust trade in EU somehow offset Australian beef industry's woes on high Australian dollar and subdued demand from Asian and US markets.

Overall, total Australian beef exports dropped by 16 percent last month, with shipments to major destinations such as Korea and the US falling by 30 and 33 percent respectively.

Australia's opportunity to ship more beef to the EU comes from an EU quota called the Global Frozen Beef quota of 53,000 tonnes. In the past, this quota was lower by 20 percent tariff, which was also filled by Brazil.

With Brazil losing stronghold on the market and Argentina struggles with low domestic stock, Australia is getting access to this quota for the first time.

Other EU quota Australia has a small access of is the High Quality Beef quota, which totals 60,250 tonnes and is for high-valued chilled meat cuts, mainly from EU-accredited grassfed bullocks.