April falls

The Detail

Australian beef export volumes hit the skids in April, but as the average seasonal trend demonstrates April is generally a time for softer volumes. The Easter/Anzac processing and supply disruptions during April often flow through to lower trade volumes. Total beef export levels eased 17% to see 61,705 tonnes swt of beef product exported from Australia.

The pattern set by the five-year average trend shows that it is common to see total beef exports drop by around 9%. In 2021 the April decline in beef exports was a little milder at 13%. This April is the largest percentage drop in beef export volumes seen during the March to April period since 2017, when exports dropped by 26%.

Japan and South Korea saw the biggest declines in Australian beef exports over April of 31% and 19%, respectively. Japan reported 13,867 tonnes swt of Australian beef consigned for the month, which is 38% under the five-year average volumes usually seen exported in April. South Korean beef export from Australia aren’t as subdued, when compared to the five-year trend for April, at 14% below the seasonal average with 10,658 tonnes swt exported.

Since the start of 2022 Aussie beef export flows to Japan are running about 30% lower than the five-year trend, meanwhile South Korean volumes are just 8% off the pace set by the seasonal five-year average pattern.

China and the USA demonstrated more moderate declines in Australian beef export levels over April at 13% and 11%, respectively. Indeed, the Chinese trade in April 2022 was about 8% higher than the April 2021 levels, coming in at 11,730 tonnes versus the 10,820 seen last season. Presently, since the start of 2022, beef exports from Australia to China are running at level about 17.5% under the five-year average trend. The USA saw just 9,929 tonnes of beef from Australia during April, which represents levels that are 40% under the average for April.