Overview

• Australian red meat (beef and veal and sheepmeat) exports to China set new records for beef and sheepmeat (lamb and mutton) in 2012-13, totalling 162,139 tonnes swt.
• Australian red meat export values to China during the first eleven months of 2012- 13 reached A$576 million.
• Annual Australian beef and veal exports during 2012-13 reached a record volume of 92,279 tonnes swt.
• Australian sheepmeat exports to China during 2012- 13 reached a new record, at 69,860 tonnes swt, assisted by a more than five-fold year-on-year lift in total mutton exports, to 35,867 tonnes swt.
• Lamb shipments during 2012-13 also improved, up 38% year-on-year, to 33,993 tonnes swt.
• Total shipments of Australian beef and veal to China during the first six months of 2013 have already exceeded the total annual exports registered in 2012 (32,906 tonnes swt), at 62,421 tonnes swt.
• Australian sheepmeat shipments to China for the first six months of 2013 totalled 40,607 tonnes swt (lamb: 17,864 tonnes swt, mutton: 22,743 tonnes swt).
• The surge in red meat exports to China has been driven by:

  .  the strong economy
  .  growing population and higher personal income
  .  improving infrastructure and rapid urbanisation in China
  .  increasing demand from a more variety of channels in a wider area of China
  .  tight supplies and associated rising red meat prices in China, triggered by a reported decrease in the Chinese  cattle herd and sheep flock
  .  increasing consumer concerns over food safety in China and Chinese government’s stricter control over food safety
  .  higher production and steady supplies from Australia during the first half year of 2013