October 12, 2009
Australia's dollar impacting cattle export prices
Export cattle prices remain under downward pressure, with the Australian lifting 30 percent on-year to 90US¢.
Falls have been contained this week, due to continued declines in cattle turnoff, as producers hold back stock.
But export cow prices fell further in the main export states of New South Wales and Queensland this week, while lower numbers lifted rates in all other states to raise the national indicator slightly.
National cow prices are now 18-percent down on a year ago, led by the 34-percent fall in cow beef prices into the US market. US market prices have fallen faster than Australian cow values, indicating a continuous trend of negative pressure on cow prices.
In contrast, Japan ox prices lifted in Queensland and NSW this week, reflecting tight supplies and some lift in export prices in recent weeks, despite the Australian dollar impact. The gap between export prices to Japan and Japan ox values has started to recover, having been low since June.
