The volume of Australian beef available in Europe has increased during the first three months of this year, recent figures from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) show.
Australia is a significant exporter of beef to the EU, as it accounted for about 10% of the EU’s total beef imports last year, with almost 31,000t of beef imported from the southern hemisphere state.
To the end of March, Australian beef exports to the EU increased by 13% on the same time in 2015, it shows, reaching 5,628t.
The increased presence of Australian beef in the EU is due to the strong demand for Australian grain-fed beef, with European imports of grain-fed beef increasing by 18% during the first three months of 2016.
So far this year, Australian beef exports, including both grain and grass-fed beef have reached over 7,000t. This means that Australia has shipped about 80% of its export quota allowance.
The MLA also shows that Australia exported almost 97,000t of beef and veal in March, taking beef exports for the first three months of the year to almost quarter of a million tonne.
But, it reports that the make-up of Australian beef exports has changed over the last 12 months, as grain-feed beef exports increased by 3% in the first quarter on the same time in 2015.
Australia’s main export markets
Along with increased grain-fed beef exports to Europe, the MLA also shows that export volumes to Asian countries have also jumped during the first three months of the year.
Australian grain-fed beef exports to South Korea increased 63% year-on-year, to a record high of 13,188t during the first three months of 2016.
Grain-fed beef exports to China seem unaffected by the increasing volumes of beef on the market from Brazil, it suggests.
As, grain-fed beef exports to China were up 70% year-on-year, at 5,154t. But the volume of beef exported to China is still 11% below the 2014 volume.
However, despite the increase in the volume of grain-fed beef shipped to China and South Korea, Australian exports to Japan dropped by 18% to 29,200t.
But, the MLA says that this volume is not far below the five-year average and the Japanese market still represents 47% of Australian grain-fed beef exports.
