Live exports gather pace: China 1 May 2018, 1:37 p.m. Markets...

Live exports gather pace: China

1 May 2018, 1:37 p.m.
Markets

https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/5374427/china-live-ex-building/


Relevant extracts from the article...

1. Tom Kennedy (Elders QLD Live Export Manager) informed me earlier this week that the China live trade is currently very strong out of southern Australia.

2. Shipments out of the south have turned around what was an oversupply of cattle shipping space due to the slowdown in the Indonesian trade. Tom said there was now a shortage of ships and part of the reason is the China run from southern Australian ports ties a ship up for 40 days compared to the very short journeys between Darwin and Indonesia.

3. Demand for beef in China is gathering pace and prices are continuing to rise. Tom said it wasn’t long ago that the Australian dollar liveweight equivalent price for slaughter cattle in China was 360c/kg but it is now 520c/kg. This is having a flow-on effect on domestic cattle numbers in neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam which are able to supply China.
Other countries which do not share a border with China such as Thailand and Cambodia are also affected as they are part of the overall dynamic of inter-country supply flows in South-East Asia. Vietnam in particular is affected by changes in supply flows from neighbouring countries. Tom said eight months ago when he was in Vietnam there was no demand and there was an excess of cattle in neighbouring local markets in Cambodia and Laos. Now there is reduced availability in Cambodia and Laos and significantly reduced numbers available from Thailand. Thailand’s situation in turn is affected by reduced numbers flowing through from Myanmar. All of this has come together recently to push slaughter-cattle prices up in both North and South Vietnam which in turn is reflecting in increased imports from Australia.

4. NACC has a ship loading 2500 cattle for Vietnam out of Townsville this week and that will be followed two further shipments from other exporters. Latest rate for these heavier types of export steers is 260c/kg which is back a bit on the 285c paid for the initial northern-Australia shipment to China out of Townsville back in January.

5. There may be a willingness on the part of the Chinese to take higher-content Brahman cattle as opposed to the flatback limitation that applied to the initial consignment in January.