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US red meat consumers continue to register high mutton export volumes from Australia with the release of the November 2021 meat export trade statistics showing flows running 124% above the five-year average pattern for this month in the season. There was a total of 2,853 tonnes of mutton shipped from Australia to the USA during November and year-to-date there has been a 51% lift in demand for Aussie mutton from America compared to the average seasonal trend.

The USA is now well entrenched in second place for mutton export market share with the proportion shipped lifting from 12.8% of total mutton exports in 2020 to 16.8% this year, so far.  China maintains the dominant position as exporter of Australian mutton accounting for around 40% of the total Australian trade for the last two years.

A look at the seasonal pattern for Chinese mutton demand from Australia highlights a 15% lift in demand over November to see 7,226 tonnes consigned for the month. This represents levels that are just 5% under the average seasonal trend for this time in the year. Indeed, flows to China of Australian mutton have been reasonably consistent with the five-year average pattern since April 2021. A strong start to Chinese demand for Aussie mutton in the first quarter of 2021 provided a boost to total annual flows with year-to-date flows running 17% above the average seasonal pattern, thus far.

Total mutton exports from Australia in November were recorded at 16,506 tonnes, just 307 tonnes short of the five-year November average. Despite the relatively strong performance over 2021 for the USA and China, total Australian mutton exports are averaging monthly levels that are about 12% under the five-year seasonal pattern. The softer total volumes are mainly due to trade flows to “other export destinations” (excluding China and USA) sitting 37% under the average seasonal pattern, according to the five-year trend.