May 8, 2007

Australian March beef output up 0.2 percent on-month at 188,032 tonnes
 

Beef production in Australia, a major global exporter, edged 0.2 percent higher in March to a seasonally adjusted 188,032 tonnes from February, and up 2.6 percent on-year, the government's Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday.

The total number of cattle slaughtered, excluding calves, in March fell 1.2 percent to 697,500 beasts, but was up 2.9 percent on-year, it reported.

Australia exports about two-thirds of its beef production, mostly to the US, Japan and South Korea, with the level of exports closely tied to production.

The bureau does not comment on the reasons for any changes but noted that in trend-estimate terms, beef production fell in March after rising for nine consecutive months.

                Australian Meat Production       
    (seasonally adjusted estimate, tonnes, carcass weight)

                    March 07     Feb 07     March 06

Beef              188,032      187,661    183,333

Veal                2,774        2,553        2,353

Mutton            22,281       21,741      29,322

Lamb              35,715       34,809      31,046

Pig meat          94,863      31,277      31,830

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics)