Live Cattle Exports Bounce Back
AUSTRALIA - After a slow start to 2009, Australian live cattle exports rebounded during March, as cattle started moving again after the extensive flooding in January and February. Cattle exports for the month reach 83,735 head – a record high for March and 13 per cent above the same time last year (Australian Bureau of Statistics).Meat and Livestock Australia said that cattle shipped to Indonesia in March increased six per cent year-on-year, to 65,221 head – the highest monthly volume since September last year.
Contributing to the jump in March shipments was the reduced shipments sent during January (37,710 head) and February (34,256 head), with numbers back 10 per cent for the first two months of the year, MLA said.
Reflecting the disruption to cattle movements from the extensive flooding across northern Australia, the number of cattle loaded out of Darwin for Indonesia fell 41 per cent during the first three months of 2009, to 52,132 head. With total exports to Indonesia only back three per cent for January to March (at 137,187 head), the decline in cattle out of Darwin was largely offset by increased cattle loaded out of Townsville, Geraldton, Wyndham, Innisfail, Mackay and Broome.
While exports for March were dominated by Indonesia, accounting for 78 per cent of shipments (compared to 75 per cent in March 2008), 12,274 head were exported to the Middle East, while Malaysia (2,495 head), Japan (1,890 head) and China (1,848 head) also received shipments.
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