Lamb exports hit record January figures

January lamb exports were at record levels as big numbers and lower prices proved attractive to international buyers.

Record sheep meat exports in January have helped push red meat sales up 41 per cent with more than 133,000 tonnes shipped last month.

It has been a stellar start to the year for sheep meat exports, with lamb and mutton volumes setting monthly records and beef the second highest ever January result.

The biggest customer was the United States which took the lion’s share of beef, lamb and goat, and was the largest overall red meat buyer by volume. China was the largest market for mutton.

Red meat exports were up in January with lamb volumes breaking records.

Meat and Livestock Australia global analyst Tim Jackson said with a small US cattle herd and a relatively flat outlook from competitor exporters in South America and New Zealand, global red meat demand was “likely to be fairly robust over the year and the outlook for Australian exports is strong”.

“Export volumes are rising in both our mature and emerging markets, and 2024 offers a strong opportunity for Australia to build market share around the world,” Mr Jackson said.

Relatively high weekly slaughter in December and January had boosted export volumes.

Lamb has been the star with 25,174 tonnes exported last month, the highest total ever recorded for January.

“Most of the lift in volume has come from an increase in chilled exports,” Mr Jackson said.

Chilled lamb exports spiked 71 per cent on last January to 11,166 tonnes.

Mr Jackson said mutton exports were also strong, rising 25 per cent year-on-year to 16,912 tonnes, dominated by China which took 6671 tonnes.

“The bulk of the increase came from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where exports lifted 56 per cent year-on-year to 3569 tonnes,” he said.

“The MENA region remains a key opportunity for Australian red meat exports.”

Meanwhile beef exports were 47 per higher this January compared to last with volumes hitting almost 76,000 tonnes.

The US was the dominant buyer for Australian beef with 20,308 tonnes.

Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Scott Young said record red meat exports was great news for producers – but his enthusiasm came with a caveat.

“Clearly the more exports we can send to a greater number of countries means more opportunities for Australian producers,” Mr Young said.

“But we need to ensure that everyone in the supply chain is getting their share.”

Mr Young said the high export levels were almost certainly due to a large amount of product bought at low prices.

“For lambs, you would think that anything under 700c/kg (carcass weight) would drive producers out of the industry and that is not a good thing when markets are growing like this,” said.