Aussie sheep exports as a percentage of flock falling
How much of Australia’s sheep flock is exported overseas each year? We take a look at the figures over the last 20 years.
AUSTRALIA’S live sheep exports as a percentage of the national flock have tumbled in the past 20 years.
And a multitude of factors are at play, according to one industry expert, including the recent flurry of restocker action on the east coast, which is sucking sheep across the Nullarbor from Western Australia.
Analysis by The Weekly Times shows the ratio of sheep exported from the national flock has dropped from about 6 per cent in 2001 to about 1.3 per cent in 2020.
Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment live sheep export data for February this year showed just 4753 sheep were consigned for export.
The number of sheep being bought by eastern producers and transported from WA rose dramatically last year, as restocking post-drought ramped up.
According to a Thomas Elders Market report, from January to March 2021 about 350,000 sheep were sent from the west coast to the east, compared with about 500,000 at the same time last year.
Thomas Elders Markets analyst Matt Dalgleish said the proportion of live sheep exports had gradually softened over the past two decades.
“Part of the story is the smaller flock, and smaller volumes available for export,” Mr Dalgleish said.
“But the pace of the decline has increased as well. You can see the flock has been in decline since the 1990s.”
Mr Dalgleish said WA accounted for about 80 to 90 per cent of Australian sheep exported in the past three decades, with the last 5 per cent added in the past five years.
A record 1.9 million sheep were transported from Western Australia to the east coast in 2020.
“But that eastern demand is not going to be there every year,” Mr Dalgleish said.
“2010-11 was our last big La Nina event, there was strong restocking demand and the west was dry. It was almost a replica of now.
“But there was only about a six-month period at the end of 2010 when we saw the bulk of that Western Australian flock come across to the east. Then we went back to the normal, smaller amount coming across.”
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