Cattle

Results from the WA saleyard surveys, conducted by MLA’s National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS) for the 2014-15 selling period saw Muchea retain the position of largest centre, with 104,754 cattle yarded. Mt Barker placed second, yarding 69,661 head, while Boyanup was close behind with 63,753 head.

Sheep

MLA’s WA sheep saleyard survey for 2014-15 saw Katanning take out the top position, with 734,397 head yarded, seeing Muchea loose the top spot with 660,050 head consigned.

The 2014-15 financial year was a significant one for the Australian red meat industry. The volume of beef and lamb produced, meat exports and live exports reached their highest point ever – all against a backdrop of rising prices.

So how does this translate into overall industry value?

MLA estimates that the total off-farm value of the beef industry in 2014-15 was approximately $18.2 billion, up 20% compared to the previous financial year. This includes the total value of the domestic market, meat exports and live exports, with the breakdowns as follows:

The commencement of spring this week saw young lamb supplies come to the fore. Victorian supplies experienced the greatest improvement after what has been a slow start to the season, mainly due to the cold conditions. Bendigo on Monday offered nearly 20,000 young lambs, while Wagga in NSW consigned a similar number.   

The rise in young lamb supplies saw the eastern states total lamb tally lift 40% week-on-week, to 162,443 head. Young lamb quality has reportedly been outstanding at most centres, although the market at Wagga lacked intensity, which resulted in cheaper trends. 

At the conclusion of Thursday’s markets:

Southeast and central Queensland registered falls of up to 25mm this week, with light showers extending into the NSW Northern Tablelands. Central and southern NSW, Tasmania and Victoria received 5-15mm, with tops of 25-50mm in the Gippsland region.

WA and SA experienced falls of 1-25mm along the coastline, while the interior saw only minimal falls this week.

So far this year, above average numbers of cattle have been sold through NLRS reported saleyards across the eastern states. Driven largely by export demand, cattle throughput has mirrored that of the record kill volumes and has been influenced by the increasingly high prices and dry conditions experienced in some areas.

NSW

Yardings firm

Numbers across the state fluctuated marginally through the smaller selling centres reported by MLA’s NLRS, however overall throughput was relatively steady week-on-week, to total 9,335 head.

Prices mostly dearer

Vealer steers were limited in number this week, although prices trended downward for light weight lines, however the better quality heavy weights lifted 6¢ to average 326¢, while the 3 scores improved by a further 11¢ week-on-week averaging 332¢/kg.

Vealer heifers suitable for processing eased 8¢ for C2 lines averaging 305¢, while C3 heavy weights sold similar to last week, ranging from 313¢ to 346¢/kg.

As of this week, MLA’s National Livestock Reporting Service has re-commenced reporting national AuctionsPlus cattle and sheep sales. AuctionsPlus sold approximately 280,000 cattle and 2 million sheep in the 2014-15 financial year, making it a significant player within the auction system.

Cattle consignments decreased 6% last week, with 6,053 head offered.

 Click here to view the full AuctionsPlus cattle report, which will be published on the MLA website each Tuesday. Sheep reports will be available on Wednesdays.

Indonesian beef prices typically become slightly cheaper between the two religious periods – Ramadan and Eid al-Adha – when demand for the popular protein temporarily subsides. However, prices remained high this year, as product shortages continued.

Fresh knuckle in Jakarta wet markets averaged IDR 122,500/kg (A$12.25/kg) in August, up 1% from the previous month, or 6% higher than a year-ago (beef from local and Australian cattle, data by Morelink). A similar increase was seen across other items, including frozen cuts imported from Australia.

While local and international retailers are rapidly developing Indonesia’s modern retail segment, traditional channels such as wet markets and small scale outlets still dominate beef sales. According to data by IGD Retail Analysis, the top five retailers occupy only 5% of the country’s grocery retail market.

28 August 2015

Chinese consumers will soon be able to buy Australian chilled beef direct online for the first time in a ground breaking partnership between a premium meat exporter and China’s largest online retailer. 

Premium meat exporter Bindaree Beef Group and their meat sales and marketing business, Sanger Australia, have partnered with JD.com, the largest online direct sales company in China, to launch packed-in-Australia chilled retail-ready beef into the Chinese market. 

Lamb consignments at Wagga were back 36% week-on-week, to 18,000 head, due to heavy rain in the supply region. Quality was very good overall, with more than half of the yarding consisting of new season lambs.

Sheep throughput declined 11%, to 7,000 head, and it was a much plainer quality yarding, with a fair percentage of lighter weights penned.

At the close of Thursday’s markets: