The growing international demand for Australian beef, coupled with a slowdown in US production and increased beef production rates in Australia, has pushed May export volumes to levels not seen since 2019.
Australia's monthly beef exports for May reached 113,923 tonnes, according to preliminary trade data. This is the largest monthly figure since December 2019 and the highest May figure since the nation's previous drought in May 2015.
The elevated production trend is evident in weekly national slaughter data, which has hit new season highs for the past three weeks, reaching over 142,000 head last week. Year to date, export volumes have nearly reached 500,000 tonnes, marking the highest five-month total since the 2015 drought year.
The surge in trade with the United States, which began in September last year, continued with May shipments exceeding 30,000 tonnes. Trade with Japan also saw significant growth, with May shipments reaching 25,435 tonnes, more than 3,700 tonnes higher than April and 341 percent higher than May last year. This increase is largely due to declining US export volumes of chilled and frozen grain-fed beef to Japan, which is now being replaced by Australian products.
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