live cattle trade , page-3

From SMH, and I particularly note that Elders who have top class feed lot, abbatoir and infrastructure facilities in Indonesia, ... sent a letter to Gillard and didn't hear back for 2 weeks(Allan Jones-2UE), ;

"AUSTRALIA'S largest cattle producers have been left counting the cost of the federal government's decision to suspend the $320 million live cattle trade to Indonesia over animal cruelty concerns.

Shares in the country's largest beef cattle producer, Australian Agricultural Co (AACo), were placed in a trading halt yesterday as the company scrambled to assess the financial impact of the ban.

An analyst at LINWAR Securities, Mark Wade, said the ban would be "fairly material" to AACo, given the company had embarked on a plan to greatly increase live cattle exports as part of a three-year strategic plan. AACo recently spent $26 million to buy 53,000 head of cattle for export to Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia.

"They planned to sell a lot more cattle and a greater percentage of live exports, so you can imagine the impact will be high," Mr Wade said.

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig yesterday said the ban would not be lifted until the government was confident safeguards could be put in place to ensure animal welfare standards.

He ordered the ban, which could last for up to six months, late on Tuesday night ? leaving an Elders shipment of 2000 cattle stranded at Port Hedland, Western Australia.

Indonesia is the largest recipient of Australia's live exports, with more than half a million head of cattle shipped there last year.

LINWAR has estimated live exports to Indonesia accounted for $21 million, or about 8 per cent, of AACo's revenue last year. Shares in AACo fell to a six-month low this week, last trading at $1.425.

Malcolm Jackman, the chief executive of Elders, yesterday called for the blanket ban to be removed, allowing the urgent resumption of live cattle trade if exporters, such as itself, were able to ensure required animal welfare standards.

Mr Jackman said Elders had an "assured, transparent and verifiable" supply chain given it owned and operated its own feedlot and abattoir in Indonesia.

?Elders's Indonesian feedlot and abattoir operations already operate at the level expected by the Australian market having spent 10 years investing in infrastructure and training,? he said.

Elders exported $33 million worth of cattle to Indonesia last year, accounting for about one-third of its live export sales. Elders shares slipped 0.5? to 44? yesterday.

The government's ban on live cattle exports followed a public outcry after footage of cruelty in the country's abattoirs was aired by Four Corners program last week.

The chief executive of AACo, David Farley, appeared on the program, but declined to comment yesterday.

The government has yet to say if compensation will be offered to producers affected by the trade ban."

RAVI

If whatever Labor touches and destroys, wasn't so serious, it would be the comedy of all comedies.