Ready steady
Market Morsel
Monthly lamb export flows remain finely balanced coming in at around 27,000 tonnes for the third consecutive month. The November trade flows of lamb from Australia was reported at 27,182 tonnes swt, which was a marginal 2% gain from the flows exported in October. Compared to the November trend from 2023 lamb exports are 9% softer than this time last season, but are still 11% higher than the November five-year average levels.
In terms of the top trade destinations for Australian lamb exports, the following was notable over November.
USA – Lamb exports to the USA remained strong and steady at 6,774 tonnes shipped over November 2024, which marks the fourth consecutive month of lamb export flows in the mid-high 6000s for the US trade. Current November lamb exports to the USA sit 10% higher than the volumes shipped in November 2023 and 26% above the November average flows, based on the last five-years of the trade.
China – November saw a promising 16% lift in Aussie lamb exports to China to reach 4,372 tonnes for the month. Despite the positive trend upwards in volumes the lamb export trade remains nearly 20% below the November average, when comparing the November trade volumes for the last five years. Current November flows to China sit 13% under the levels sent during November last year.
The others – Stability must be the order of the day as flows to the “other” destinations weakened slightly but still manage to post the third consecutive month with lamb export volumes in the 16,000s. There was 16,037 tonnes shipped to other destinations from Australia in November 2024, a 1.5% drop on the previous months trade flows. Compared to last year the November flows are 14% weaker, but still sit 17% above the November five-year average levels.
