Travelling east?

Market Morsel

Interstate sheep and lamb transfer numbers from WA to the eastern states have been released for the end of 2023 and the combined monthly volumes for sheep and lamb transfers were a bit lacklustre for the final quarter of the year.

October 2023 saw just shy of 17,000 head transported east, well below the 90,000 odd head that usually gets sent east at this time of the year, based on the average volumes sent in October over the last decade.

November was also much weaker than the average trend with a little over 19,000 head trucked east compared to the 60,000 head that is normally sent according to the seasonal average pattern. October and November flows this year were both well below the 120,000 or so head sent across for each month in 2022.

December 2023 managed to rival the volumes sent in 2022 at around 35,000 head and managed to get monthly transport volumes above the average pattern for the first time since May 2023.

The weaker finish to 2023 saw a total of 232,732 head of WA sheep and lamb shipped east over the year, nearly 37% less than the 368,150 head trucked across the Nullarbor in 2022. The 2023 tally is also well short of the 440,000 head annual average transported each year from WA to the east, based on the last decade of road transport data.