Green shoots emerge for red meat exports

Wednesday, 17 July 2024

North America was New Zealand’s largest red meat market for May as exports to nearly all major markets increased year on year.

The red meat sector is showing promising signs of export growth, with demand up in most markets for May.

Red meat exports totalled $1.1 billion for the month, an increase of 3% compared with March 2023.

Beef exports had the most significant year-on-year growth, with volume up 5% and value up 9%, according to an analysis by the Meat Industry Association.

Sheepmeat and beef exports to nearly all major markets increased, apart from China where exports fell 42% to $232 million.

Despite the decline, China remains New Zealand’s second largest market. North America took the top spot as exports to the United States increased 28% to $358m.

Exports to Japan rose 96% to $72m, while the United Kingdom was up 51% to $62m.

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says it is encouraging to see some recovery in red meat exports.

The increases support the Ministry for Primary Industries’ recent Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries report that forecast a strong recovery for trade in 2025.

Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said this was encouraging news for the sector.

“While the China market is still soft, the ability to shift products to other markets such as the US means companies are continuing to extract the best value for products under the current global conditions.”

As New Zealand’s largest export market for sheepmeat, China saw a 1% decrease in export volume and 49% decrease in value for the month.

This dragged overall sheepmeat exports down 1% to 39,232 tonnes and value down 5% to $387m.

The sheepmeat markets that have seen a strong recovery included the UK, Europe and the US respectively.

Exports to the UK were up 40% by volume to 5392 tonnes and up 34% by value to $51m. Also strong was the EU, where sheepmeat exports increased 23% by volume to 5392 tonnes and 15% by value to $113m. Exports to the US were up 66% by volume to 3568 tonnes and 31% in value to $113m.

Beef exports for the month totalled 55,498 tonnes for a value of $524m. The US was the largest market, with volume up 17% to 24,929 tonnes and value up 31% to $261m.

A record monthly volume of 5533 tonnes of beef was exported to Japan in May, an increase of 164%. The value jumped accordingly, up 151% to $55m. The overall increase was propped up by high tourism numbers in Japan as inbound visitors hit 3 million for April this year.

Beef exports to China were down 33% by volume to 14,387 tonnes and down 45% by value to $98m. The EU also accounted for 712 tonnes worth $13.8m.