In the week that Brazil set a new monthly record for the volume of beef exports, Australia has now followed suit.

In July, it exported 123,464 tonnes of beef product weight, beating the previous record set in March 2015 by 5%.

The tighter cattle supply in the US alongside a 420,000t tariff-free quota has made it the most attractive market for Australian beef exports this year.

In July, it was the market for 38,540t of Australian beef, which is an increase of 61% on July 2023 and 30% of all Australian beef exports last month.

There was also a big increase in export volumes to the second- and third-largest export markets, with 26,297t exported to Japan (a 48% increase on July last year) and 20,331t to South Korea (a 20% increase).

China was the only major export market that showed a decline in July compared with last year, with volumes down 3% at 16,249t.

Sheepmeat exports

Australian sheepmeat exports didn’t beat the monthly record set in May this year, but they were the second-highest of all time in July.

Lamb exports were up 21% compared with July 2023 at 33,590t, while mutton volumes increased by 44% to 18,519t.

As with beef, the US was the largest lamb market for Australian exports, taking 7,943t in July, a 31% increase year on year.

China is the main export market for Australian mutton exports, taking 3,769t, which is a significant 30% fall compared with July 2023.

UK market for Australian exports

The biggest interest from Irish farmers and exporters with Australian beef and sheepmeat exports is their level of performance in the UK market.

The UK-Australian trade deal has been in effect since the beginning of June last year and Australian exporters have been growing this market.

In July, the UK was Australia’s 10th largest market for beef exports, taking 574t of beef, bringing the total so far this year to 3,434t.

This is two and a half times more than for the first seven months of 2023, but the UK still remains a small if growing market for Australian beef exports.

Australia is a much bigger player in the UK sheepmeat market, exporting 1,947t in July, bringing the year-to-date total up to 10,810t, a 73% increase on the same period last year.

Comment

The key element of the world beef market at present is the reduction in US supplies, with the herd at its lowest point since 1951, while Brazil continues to surge ahead as the world’s leading exporter and Australia likely returning to a one million-plus tonnes exporter again this year.

What is different is that Australia now has free access to the UK market, which is a potential disruptor of Irish business in that market. However, a surge in demand from the US this year, combined with reduced US competition in the lucrative Asian markets, has meant that it continues to absorb the bulk of Australia’s increased beef exports.

For sheepmeat, Australia is now well established in the UK as an alternative to New Zealand in particular and while it is more than a match for Irish supplies in volume, the fact that we are on opposite seasons means that its main competitor in the UK is New Zealand.