Australian feedlot owners worried about Japan and So - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

News

Australian feedlot owners worried about Japan and South Korea

02/03/2012
Red meat industry body Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has announced that feedlot owners across the country had 790,000 head of cattle in lots in the final quarter of 2011. This represents an 11% increase on the same period in 2010.

MLA's chief economist, Tim McRae, has told local media that the figures were surprising because young cattle have been at record high prices. He explained that good rains in late November and early December, falls (by as much as 29% in some cases) in the price of grain and a decline in the value of the Australian dollar had all helped.

However, he has also warned that the first quarter of 2012 is proving challenging for feedlot owners.

"For this quarter things remain quite difficult," he said in a recent radio interview. "The biggest markets for grain-fed cattle are Japan and South Korea and we face some pretty big hurdles there with increase competition from the US. A lot of lot-feeders are looking anxiously at the value of the Australian dollar and at just how competitive US beef is being into Japan and Korea at the moment."

 


Leatherbiz.com cannot be held responsible for content if the language setting is changed from English.

The translations provided by Google Translate are automated and therefore might not be accurate and may contain incorrect, offensive or misleading language. We offer this facility as a guide only.