April 23, 2007

Australian butcher market recovers in March

Butcher sales of beef, lamb, pork and chicken have improved in March, although beef and lamb sales were still lower registered in December and January, according to survey data collected by Millward Brown's National Field Services for Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).

In March, 80 percent of butchers surveyed rated their sales of beef as "good to excellent", while 79 percent said the same for lamb. This is an improvement on February results, when 72 percent and 60 percent of butchers, respectively, said their beef and lamb sales were "good to excellent".

Respondents also noted that pork and chicken sales were higher in March, with 67% and 76 percent, respectively noting 'good to excellent' sales.

According to the results, beef and pork prices were on average, 1 percent lower than February values and lamb cut prices were 4 percent below February levels.