Red meat export volumes to break records

Australia’s red meat exports are on track to break records this year — and some are already setting new highs.

Insatiable international demand for Australian red meat will see records smashed by the end of 2024, in a stunning year for exports.

Goat meat has already topped its previous best, while lamb and mutton exports should reach new highs by the month’s end.

And beef is also on track to hit new heights, beating the previous record set a decade ago.

The stellar results come as the livestock industry carefully monitors any fallout from the election of Donald Trump in the United States, and his looming threat to slap tariffs on imports when he takes office next year.

But it’s the only caveat on a huge year for volumes, as strong currency rates and competitive prices put Aussie red meat on the menu worldwide.

To the end of October – and with two months of the year to go – Australia had exported:

1.097 MILLION tonnes of beef (annual record of 1.287 million tonnes set in 2014);

303,854 TONNES of lamb (record of 326,014 tonnes set in 2020);

201,062 TONNES of mutton (record of 209,580 tonnes set in 2023), and
42,004 TONNES of goat meat (record of 33,891 tonnes set in 2023).

Cattle Australia chief executive Dr Chris Parker said record highs for beef exports were an incredible achievement.

“Producers and industry should be proud of volumes as it demonstrates their commitment to addressing food security for a growing global population,” Dr Parker said.

“The result is also a reflection of the competitiveness of Australian beef in such a large number of international markets around the world.”

Meat and Livestock Australia global market analyst Tim Jackson said most markets were firing, led by demand from the United States.

October beef imports to the US were up 64 per cent, to 45,000 tonnes, compared to last year, contributing to the biggest monthly figure ever for all destinations.

But sales to the big players – the US, South Korea and Japan – were underpinned by big lifts in all markets including ASEAN nations, where the 21,000 tonnes imported in October showed a 68 per cent rise compared to last year.

“Weekly slaughter numbers have been relatively high over the past few months – the favourable Australian dollar helps but at the end of the day, export volumes are mostly a factor of production,” Mr Jackson said.

“October was a very big month for exports, and part of a very big year and it’s exciting to think that we could see even bigger volumes next year.”

Victorian Farmers Federation livestock group president Scott Young said while some producers might have hoped high export volumes would result in better prices, particularly for cattle, it showed how vital international demand was.

“We are clearly not having a great season and prices could have been a challenge if we did not have that strong export demand,” Mr Young said.

“The flip side is that the (lower livestock) prices are making our protein affordable to the rest of the world.”

Mr Young said record exports added confidence to producers, and the trading environment.

“Last year we were being told there was a lot of meat in cold storage and there was a backlog, but we seem to have got through that and processors seem to be able to get through numbers which is great,” he said.

Mr Young said the industry would be watching the US to see if tariffs were imposed after the election of Mr Trump last week.

“We do depend on US meat imports, but one of the reasons Trump got elected was on making life more affordable so we hope that food imports are not impacted by tariff changes,” he said.

The meat processing industry said it had been investing heavily in finding and retaining the labour needed to support the current high levels of production.

Australian Meat Industry Council acting chief executive officer Tim Ryan said many export-registered meat processors were at or near throughput capacity, running extended shifts and processing as much as they could.

“Between this focus on maximising capacity and continued improvements to yields and carcass balance across the industry, Australia is in a good position to deliver a heightened volume of production and trade,” Mr Ryan said.

He said Australia’s ability to reliably export safe, high-quality red meat and meat products had always been an important driver of global demand.

“At the moment, this is coupled with a favourable global trading environment including the relative competitiveness of the Australian dollar as well as the continued liquidation of the US herd,” Mr Ryan said.