March 20, 2013

In a trial last year, Australia's Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) sold 450 tonnes of boxed beef to China and said it will be ramping up its sales of beef to China this year.

Consolidated Pastoral's CEO Fergal Leamy says the trial went extremely well and the company is aiming to sell up to 3,000 tonnes this year. "The initial reaction was phenomenal," he said.

"We were able to sell that beef very quickly to our joint venture partner (Dantong). We did that mainly through the wholesale market, but we also did it through branded CPC beef in the supermarkets which has gone very well."

Leamy said issues in the live export trade to Indonesia were causing many companies and pastoralists to look at other markets.

"It (exports to China) is part of our strategy to try and diversify into a number of different markets," he said. "At CPC we were reliant on the Indonesian market and what we would like to do over the next five years is to have five or six markets that have equal weight. In Asia there are a number of markets we are targeting, but China is a little further ahead for us in terms of development."

Leamy said the company will not only increase the amount of beef it sells to China this year, but is also working with its joint venture partner to build a local boning facility. He said the company is investing in China because it believes the market has huge potential.

"There are few reasons why we are targeting China; we believe the opportunity is now and the price of beef in China has gone ahead of the price of beef in Australia for the first time. We now have a joint venture partner in China and a distribution network in China which allows us to be successful in that market."

CPC has been selling Wagyu and Angus cuts to China as well as grass-fed and grain-fed Brahman. The move into China is part of CPC's five year strategic plan.