The latest beef export data for September released by the US Meat Exporters Federation (USMEF) shows that export volumes in September were up 5% on the same month last year at 103,980 tonnes though the volume for the first nine months of 2024 is 2% lower than the same period last year at 960,814 tonnes.

Exports to all Asian markets are higher in September this year than they were in September last year, which is attributed to a rebound in tourism according to the USMEX president and CEO Dan Halstrom.

Volumes to Japan were 10% higher than September last year at 19,249 tonnes with South Korea the next most important market, taking 18,0 tonnes in September.

Record Australian beef exports

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) have released their export data for October which shows a record monthly volume of beef exported for the second time this year. The all time high monthly volume was 130,049 tonnes, beat the previous record monthly total set in July this year and was 24% higher than October last year.

The US was the top market for Australian beef exports taking 45,338 tonnes, a huge 64% increase on October last year. South Korea was the second largest beef export market taking 19,733 tonnes.

Overall Australian beef exports for 2024 year to date are 1.1m tonnes, the highest ever for the first ten months of the year putting Australia on course to beat the previous beef export total which was set in 2014.

Of particular interest to Irish farmers will be the continued increase in the volume of beef exported to the UK. In October 640 tonnes was shipped bring the total for the year to date up to 5,074 tonnes. This remains small in the context of overall Australian beef exports but represents a 165% increase on the volume exported to the UK in the same period last year.

Lamb exports

Lamb export volumes fell in October, down 13% compared with October last year at 26,673 tonnes. Despite this monthly decline, lamb exports for the year to date are running 13% ahead of 2023 at 303,854 tonnes, indicating that this is likely to be a record setting year for lamb exports as well as beef exports for Australia.

Sheep meat exports to the UK were down 12% in October compared with the same month last year at 1,145 tonnes but overall volume for the year to date is running 53% ahead of last year at 15,638 tonnes.

Comment

One month of data shouldn’t be taken in isolation but it can be the start of a trend.

The next real indication of where the US stands with beef production will come with the updated cattle census data in January but the indication from last January suggest numbers will still be below what they had been over the last ten years.

As for Australia, they are at the other end of the scale and at the highest ever level of output and exports.

The Australian cattle and sheep population is more volatile with regular long periods of drought frequently leading to destocking and subsequent rebuilding.

With the cattle herd and sheep flock at the top of the cycle at present, the biggest challenge is securing staff in the processing industry. Any further growth in Australian production and exports will depend on prolonged favourable weather conditions.