September 26, 2013

Australia's beef exports to EU up 31% on-year

The exports include 8,700 tonnes of grain-fed beef reaching EU shores, an increase of 82% on last year. According to Meat and Livestock Australia's (MLA) EU and Russia manager, Michael Crowley, the figures were expected to continue rising. Grass-fed beef was up 2% on-year.

The EU bought Australian beef at an average of US$9.03/kg in 2012, which made it MLA's highest value export customer, Crowley said.

He added that growth in beef exports to the region has been facilitated by Australia's access to the new High Quality Beef Grain Fed (HQB GF) quota, gained in 2010, in which Australia shares access with the US, Uruguay, Canada and New Zealand.

According to Crowley, the HQB GF quota increased from 20,000 tonnes to 48,000 tonnes in August 2012 and resulted in strong supply chain alliances for businesses in Australia and the EU.

"Although the EU has recently been plagued by economic problems, it is a huge market, with more than 500 million people consuming roughly eight million tonnes of beef and two million tonnes of sheep meat a year," he said.

Crowley also explained that the economic stresses in Europe have put pressure on Australian lamb exports, which are in competition with cheaper New Zealand products. He said competition was also intensified by an "oversupply of UK lamb at the start of the year".

"Australian exporters have a great opportunity to continue to expand grain-fed beef volumes and maintain existing grass-fed beef and sheep meat levels while maintaining price. To achieve this, we have to be strategic in our marketing," Crowley said.