New Zealand’s red meat sector achieved sales of $1.1 billion during July, a 26 percent increase on July 2021, according to an analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
China remained the standout market with red meat exports worth $460 million, up 42 percent on last July. Other major markets were Japan at $58 million, up 36 percent, the Netherlands at $38 million, up 132 percent, and the UK at $38 million, up 97 percent. Exports to the US dropped by 22 percent to $191 million.
MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said strong red meat prices in global markets were continuing to help absorb the impact of continued market volatility and higher costs.
Overall, beef exports fell nine percent year on year to 44,744 tonnes but were still high for this time of the year as July 2021 was a record month.
Beef export volumes to the US dropped 50 percent to 9,092 tonnes, in the face of high levels of US beef production resulting from ongoing drought and higher feed and other input costs.
The value of beef exports for the month saw an increase of 17 percent from last July to reach $485 million. The value of beef exports to China increased by 66 percent to $251 million, although the value of beef exports to the US dropped by 39 percent to $95 million.
Chinese demand for beef continued to be strong, with the volume of exports up 20 percent from last July to 23,690 tonnes.
Beef export volumes and values also increased to Japan, with 3,241 tonnes, up 37 percent, worth $36 million, and to Korea up 21 percent to 2,223 tonnes, worth $21 million.
Meanwhile, sheepmeat exports also saw an increase. A total of 33,533 tonnes of sheepmeat was exported, a 33 per cent increase on last July and the largest volume for the month since 2008.
Karapeeva said the high sheepmeat export volumes were likely due to a catch up in processing in recent months, flowing through into exports.
In the first quarter of the year, there were 1.4 million fewer sheep processed than in the first three months of 2021, but the second quarter saw 738,000 more sheep processed than in the second quarter of last year.
The overall increase in export volume meant there was an increase in sheepmeat volume to most major markets. China was up 24 percent to 17,874 tonnes, the UK by 98 percent to 2,703 tonnes, and the Netherlands by 118 per cent to 1,646 tonnes. The US was down by 29 per cent to 1,982 tonnes.
“While the volume of sheepmeat exports to the US was down, the value still increased, reaching a record $23.31 per kilo. The value of sheepmeat exports increased to all the major markets in July, with a total of $384 million, an increase of 40 percent.”
July was also a strong month for co-products. Exports increased 28 percent compared to last July, to $230million. There was an increase in the value of all the categories, particularly casings and tripe, up 76 percent to $50 million. The major markets were China ($72 million), the US ($50 million) and Indonesia ($18 million).
