Australia: Live Cattle Exports
Australia is a leading international exporter of live cattle and Indonesia has been its main market for over two decades. However, an unexpectedly low Indonesian import quota for live cattle for the second quarter of 2015 recently shocked exporters. The lower quota reflects Indonesia’s move towards self-sufficiency, although it may be revised. In response to access issues, Australia has sought to diversify export markets and seven new markets have agreed to export protocols. The latest is China under a bilateral agreement to supply up to one million cattle into this market. While capacity constraints in Australia will limit initial volumes to these new markets, exporters are likely to become less reliant on Indonesian quotas. Diversification of markets will however take time. The expansion of available markets for live cattle will boost a northern Australian industry affected by continuing drought and logistical difficulties.
