Australian beef exports to Russia continued at pace during April, reaching a record 8333 tonnes (shipped weight), up from a mere 75t sent in April 2007, according to the latest figures from the Federal Department of Agriculture.
Meat and Livestock Australia says that as a result of the surge in April, beef exports to Russia during the first four months of 2008 were 13,073t – almost 30-fold shipments during the calendar year to April last year.
MLA says the boom in exports to the region has been a result of the recent sharp fall in subsidised beef exports from the EU, tight beef supplies and high prices coming out of South America, falling Russian beef production and rising domestic beef demand.
According to DAFF, exports to Russia represented 9pc of total Australian beef exports during April (up from 2pc last year), and 5pc for the calendar year to April (1pc in 2007) – making Russia Australia's fourth largest beef market behind Japan, the US and Korea.
A surge in frozen product is behind the export boom, jumping to 12,749t during the first four months of the year (97.5pc of the total) – up from 230t exported during the same period last year.
Of this, grassfed beef totalled 12,710t (99.7pc) and grainfed only 39t (0.3pc).
Exports of chilled beef also experienced some growth over the period, lifting 51pc on the same period last year, to 324t.
Chilled grassfed beef exports rose by 46pc to 188t, while chilled grainfed exports increased 57pc to 136t.
While a variety of cuts are now being exported to Russia, such as silverside/outside, thick flank/knuckle, topside/inside, chuck and blade, the largest increase during the four months to April was recorded for traditional manufacturing cuts, which jumped to 3,315t (25pc of the total) – up from 227t last year.
SOURCE: Meat and Livestock Australia