Drought is forcing farmers to cull their animals and the meat resulted will be pushed to Asian markets.
The Australian Bureau of Agriculture, Resource Economics and Rural Sciences (ABARES) have updated the forecast on the beef exports for the 2018/2019 period.
During this time, beef exports could reach 1.15 million tonnes, up by 4% from the previous forecast released in March.
Much of the increased exports will go to Japan and China, ABARES said, countries where Australia enjoys favourable access following the completion of trade agreements in recent years.
Australia has already a 50% market share for Japan’s beef imports, totalling 292,364 tonnes delivered in this market in 2017. In China, Australian beef is holding a 17% market share with a volume of 110,059 exported in 2017.
According to ABARES data, farmers in key producing regions around Australia’s east coast have been forced to increase slaughtering to a two-year high as the scorching weather dries fields.
