September 30, 2005

USDA: Australia poultry and products annual 2005

Australian poultry meat production remains dominated by a handful of large, vertically integrated players.

Despite being Australia's second largest meat industry (by volume), the poultry meat industry remains domestically focused. Exports account for only about three percent of domestic production and quarantine regulations largely prohibit the importation of fresh chicken meat.

The two main drivers for poultry meat production in Australia are consumer demand and the availability of feed grain. Persistent drought conditions over the past four years significantly reduced domestic feed grain production while stringent quarantine conditions constrained access to imported feed grain.

A recent return to normal weather conditions is likely to improve supplies of feed grain over the short to medium term. Furthermore, the continued trend towards higher white meat consumption is also likely to see demand for poultry meat improve and is expected to see retail prices received for poultry meat remain strong.

For the full USDA report, click here.