October 3, 2012

The Northern Territory government of Australia is expecting that a new deal to sell cattle to Vietnam will create a major new export market in the future.

Next week 1500 head of cattle will be sold to Vietnam, worth almost US$1.5 million.

Primary Industry Minister Willem Westra van Holthe said Vietnam could become a big taker of New Territory's (NT's) cattle.

"In the next two to three years, Vietnam could develop into a significant export market of more than 10,000 head of cattle each year," he said.

Cattle producers in Australia's Top End were rocked by a decision of the federal government last year to suspend for a month the live cattle trade with Indonesia.

Indonesia later slashed the number of import permits by 40,000, to 60,000 cattle, in what some commentators interpreted as a tit-for-tat trade snub.

Although the Asian nation later boosted the number again, Indonesia has stated it plans to eventually produce enough beef domestically to feed its people.