June 25, 2010
NZ beef exports up in May
New Zealand beef and veal exports totalled 47,125 tonnes swt in May 2010, 6% higher than a year earlier, with exports increasing to most Asian markets.
Beef and veal exports for the period January through May were up 3% on the same period last year, at 194,420 tonnes swt. Shipments to the US - which typically account for close to half of all NZ beef and veal exports - have been fairly constant on 2009 levels, totalling 92,874 tonnes swt.
Shipments fluctuated to other markets, with a large drop in volumes to Canada (back 37% to 11,856 tonnes swt) largely offset by a 16% rise to Japan (15,714 tonnes swt), a 23% lift to Korea (17,733 tonnes swt) and a 45% increase to South-east Asia (25,997 tonnes swt), according to NZ Meat Board.
NZ adult cattle slaughter for the first four months of 2010 was running at 3% higher than a year earlier, at 1.05 million head, with 3% less cows, but 13% more steers and 3% more bulls coming forward. This change in composition along with the better season has helped increase average carcass weights, with production up 7% to 272,224 tonnes cwt for the same period.
