Cattle Slaughter to Rise Over Next Two Years
AUSTRALIA - Australian cattle slaughter is expected to increase in 2012-13, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) latest Agricultural Commodities report. While total cattle slaughter is forecast to fall three per cent in 2011-12, to 7.9 million head, it is expected to rise two per cent in 2012-13, to 8.1 million head.
25 June 2012
1 minute read
The higher slaughter is expected to underpin a three per cent rise in beef production in 2012-13, to 2.2 million tonnes cwt, with average carcase weights expected to remain close to the record levels reached in 2011-12 (288kg/head). Furthermore, the report also predicts greater turnoff of older cattle, with higher demand from the US and other smaller markets for manufacturing beef. At the same time, ABARES forecasts the national cattle herd to expand by four per cent, to 31.4 million head as at the end of June 2013.
The national average saleyard price in 2012-13 is forecast to decline three per cent, to 320?/kg cwt. Contributing to the decline is expected to be weaker demand from restocker, along with changing demand from higher valued cuts, to cheaper cuts in overseas markets.
According to ABARES, Australian beef and veal exports in 2012-13 are forecast to rise two per cent, to 970,000 head swt, with the growth attributed to increased shipments to the US, Taiwan, South East Asia and the Middle East. However, higher competition from US beef is expected to result in exports to Japan (315,000 tonnes swt) falling three per cent in 2012-13, while shipments to Korea (122,000 tonnes swt) are forecast to decline two per cent over the same period.
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