Exports by volume

Beef exports

Of the beef exported to overseas markets Japan is the largest market in volume terms. Over the last three years they have increased the volume of Western Australian beef they import substantially from five million kg (CEQ) in 2011/12 to 10.4 million kg (CEQ) in 2014/15 – an increase of 108%.

The USA, which was our fourth largest market during 2014/15, also had a large increase in beef exports during 2014/15 compared to recent years. During 2014/15 there was an increase of 769% year-on-year from 651 000 kg (CEQ) to 5.66 million kg (CEQ) (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Quantity of Western Australian beef exported by destination (Based on data from ABS, analysed by DAFWA)

Live exports

As illustrated in Figure 7, the live cattle export trade is quite volatile from year-to-year. Whereas a low point was experienced during 2011/12 and 2012/13 following the suspension of trade to Indonesia and the subsequent implementation of the ESCAS protocol, 2013/14 was incredibly strong with an increase of 56% year-on-year. Unfortunately during 2014/15 there has been an 18% decrease in the number exported from 305 000 head to 250 000 head. During this period Queensland and Northern Territory exporters absorbed a larger share of the available trade.

Figure 7 Total number of cattle exported live from Western Australia (Based on data from ABS, analysed by DAFWA)

As seen below in Figure 8 Western Australia’s largest market for live export cattle is Indonesia. Despite a significant decrease in the number of cattle exported to Indonesia between 2013/14 and 2014/15, they remain Western Australia’s largest live cattle market. They are closely followed by Israel and, newcomer to the market, Viet Nam.

Figure 8 Number of Western Australian cattle exported live by destination (Based on data from ABS,  analysed by DAFWA)