Better beef
Beef Export Summary August 2023
A great result for Aussie beef exports over August 2023 with total monthly trade volumes hitting six figures for the first time since December 2019. There was 102,351 tonnes swt of beef exports reported during August, which was a 5% improvement on the levels set over July 2023. Compared to the five-year average for August the current beef trade volumes are 11% above the seasonal pattern.
A summary for the top four beef export destinations is outlined below.
- Japan – Continues to demonstrate lacklustre performance during 2023 and the weaker beef export demand from Australia this year has seen them slip from top spot in terms of market share during August 2023. Japan has taken 20.2% of total Aussie beef exports so far this year and is now in second place behind the USA, which now holds 20.5% of the trade. August saw Aussie beef export volumes to Japan ease by 5% to see just 16,868 tonnes swt for the month. Beef flows to Japan from Australia in August sit 26% under the five-year average for this time in the season.
- USA – There was nearly an 8% increase on Aussie beef export volumes to the USA over August with trade flows hitting 25,760 tonnes for the month. This is the highest monthly beef exports to the USA have been since June 2019 and compared to the five-year average trend volumes are sitting 42% above the August average trend. That’s a big turnaround given much of the last few years saw Aussie beef export volumes to the USA running around 45% under the average seasonal trend.
- South Korea – Maintains strong demand for Australian beef with August flows lifting 2% from the levels set in July 2023. There was 17,304 tonnes of Aussie beef reported shipped to South Korea during August 2023 which is nearly 16% above the August average level, based upon the last five-years of export trade.
- China – Managed to eek out a 2% gain too over August with 17,114 tonnes of Aussie beef exports consigned. Compared to the five-year trend for August the beef flows to China currently sit nearly 6% above the seasonal average pattern.
