Australian lamb still breaking records

Latest red meat export figures show China has taken 21.4 per cent of all lamb exports to date this year, as exports break records.

A tussle between two of Australia’s biggest lamb importers has seen China emerge as our major customer as sheepmeat exports hit new highs.

But even as China nudges out the United States in terms of volume, the US still has the biggest spend thanks to its concentration on fresh product.

The latest red meat export figures show China has taken 21.4 per cent of all lamb exports to date this year, compared to 20.3 per cent for the US.

And combined with mutton, Australia has just posted the biggest sheepmeat exports ever.

Episode 3 analyst Matt Dalgleish said Australia’s highest value market – the US – took 6066 tonnes of Australian lamb last month.

“This is 6 per cent less than the July 2022 flows but a healthy 19 per cent higher than the five-year average for July,” Mr Dalgleish said.

But the mantle for the biggest importer of Australian lamb is China, and while Mr Dalgleish said there had been anecdotal reports of demand easing for Australian lamb during July, imports were still relatively strong.

“There were 5590 tonnes of lamb sent from Australia to China over July and despite the easing trend, China still managed to record export volumes that sit 6.5 per cent above the five-year average for July and 24 per cent higher than the flows set in July 2022,” he said.

The US retains its number one position for export lamb value, despite product selling there at up to a 38 per cent discount on last year’s prices.

US exports remain number one, but China is gaining.

Weekly prices sourced from the American Sheep Industry Association show the biggest fall in Australian lamb categories sold in the United States has been for frozen boneless legs, but prices had dipped for all cuts.

The least pain was felt for fresh lamb racks (down 9.3 per cent) but cuts like fresh shoulders were back 23 per cent and fresh legs 21 per cent.

The statistics collected showed Australian producers were not the only ones seeing prices cuts, with US lamb back 32 per cent for some cuts.

Meat and Livestock Australia global supply analyst Tim Jackson said exports to the US had been consistently strong.

“I’d say that American demand for Australian lamb has been important over the past decade, but the American market doesn’t necessarily impact price in a day-to-day sense,” Mr Jackson said.

“In volume terms, the US was the second largest market for lamb in the first seven months of 2023.

“But in value terms, the US was the largest market for lamb in the first six months of 2023, in large part because the US imports substantially more chilled product than China.”