Strong global demand for beef and sheepmeat continues to drive growth

It was a record year for Australian red meat exports in 2024 and the trend looks set to continue in 2025.

According to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), 2024 was the largest year for red meat exports in history, with 2.24 million tonnes of red meat exported to 104 countries.

But it wasn't only one red meat category that stood out, records were set for beef, lamb, mutton and goatmeat exports.

Beef exports reached a record 1.34mt, while sheepmeat exports rose 15pc on the record level set in 2023 to total 614,396t, which was the highest sheepmeat export figure from any single country on record and goatmeat exports reached 51,489t.

When these figures were released in January, MLA global supply analyst Tim Jackson said the data from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, highlighted Australia's strong reputation as a reliable supplier of high-quality red meat, with overseas demand remaining strong as domestic supply rose.

"In 2024, the cattle herd and sheep flock both reached maturity, and slaughter lifted substantially," Mr Jackson said.

"At the same time, the global supply landscape was favourable for Australia, with beef exports from the United States easing as the American cattle herd reached a 72-year low following years of drought.

"Global economic pressures continue to affect consumer confidence.

"However, high levels of trust and an industry-wide dedication to quality has driven demand for Australian red meat internationally."

Australia's market access position was also important in driving exports.

Eighty seven per cent of Australia's exports went to countries with which we have a free trade agreement, including 95pc of our beef exports.

In 2024, the US was the largest importer of Australian red meat by volume, importing 394,716t of beef and 85,133t of lamb.

According to MLA's manager of global market insights, Miho Kondo, Australian beef helped to fill a hole left by a domestic supply shortage of local product in the US.

"American consumers are some of the largest consumers of red meat in the world, but the American cattle herd reached a more than seven-decade low following years of drought - this created opportunities for imported beef suppliers such as Australia," Ms Kondo said.

According to MLA, consumer preference has also been diversifying in the market, and last year there was consistently double digit growth for grassfed beef in retail from increased availability and presence of grassfed beef in store.

"The US was also the largest market for lamb, with more restaurants across different foodservice segments adopting lamb to cater to growing interest in lamb when dining out," Ms Kondo said.

A significantly larger proportion of Australian red meat was shipped to destinations outside of the top three markets (US, China and Japan) in 2024 (47pc versus 41pc in 2019), driven by the young, expanding and increasingly affluent consumer base in regions such as the Middle East and South East Asia.

After a record breaking year in 2024 for Australian red meat exports, volumes have continued to be strong in the first three months of 2025.

To the end of March beef exports were up 13pc on the same period last year while sheepmeat exports were up 5pc.

Beef

In 2024 beef exports reached 1.34mt, which was 22pc higher than 2023 and 4pc higher than the previous record of 1.29mt set in 2014.

According to MLA, the strongest growth was seen in the US, where exports lifted 60pc to 394,716t making it the largest importer of Australian beef.

Australia also saw a 33pc increase in beef exports to South-East Asia in 2024, with 177,684t going to this region.

Japan was the second largest beef export market for Australia in 2024, however, the proportion of lower value products increased, impacted by sticky inflation, a weakened Yen and slow real wage growth continuing to weigh on Japanese consumer spending.

Australian grainfed beef also broke export records with 375,195t of grainfed beef exported last year.

Record high capacity and numbers of cattle on feed have translated into strong turnoff figures over 2024, leading to strong supply and high exports.

Following on from last year's record breaking year, beef exports have made a strong start to 2025 with record levels being exported in the first three months of the year.

So far this year until the end of March Australia has exported 310,975t of beef around the world which was up 13pc year-on-year (YoY).

Broken down chilled beef exports are up 1pc YoY and frozen beef exports are up 17pc YoY until the end of March

In January, Australia exported a record 81,050t of beef and in February 117,502t of beef left Australian shores to set another monthly record.

The February total was up 25pc on 2024 levels and up 11pc on the previous record volume of 105,054t exported in 2015.

In March Australia exported 112,423t of beef, which was up 5pc on March 2024 levels.

In the first three months the US has remained Australia's largest market taking 92,078t (25,388t chilled and 66,690t frozen) which is up 35pc YoY (chilled up 26pc and frozen up 39pc).

Outside the US in the first three months beef exports to China lifted 21pc YoY to 56,179t (8924t chilled and 47,255t frozen) and volumes to Korea lifted 10pc YoY to 44,699t, while they were back 11pc YoY to Japan to 54,640t.

Looking ahead, MLA said in its cattle industry projections 2025 March update global demand for beef is robust and is anticipated to strengthen further.

"Australia is currently in an opposite supply cycle to major beef-producing competitors such as the US and Brazil," the report said.

"As the US begins its long-overdue herd rebuild and drought conditions in Brazil ease, global beef supply is expected to tighten.

"This coincides with a stable outlook for Australian slaughter and production, positioning the country to take advantage of global trade opportunities."

Sheepmeat

It was also a positive story for Australian lamb and mutton exports in 2024 with both continuing to grow.

In 2024 Australian lamb exports reached 359,299t, which was 10pc higher than the previous record set in 2023.

The largest market for Australian lamb in 2024 was the US which took 85,133t, followed by China at 53,478t and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 27,268t.

According to MLA, strong growth was also seen in exports to the United Kingdom (UK), which rose 44pc in the first year of the full implementation of the Australian-United Kingdom free trade agreement to 13,668t.

Australian lamb exports have also seen a positive start in 2025 with the volumes exported in the first three months of the year being higher than the same period in 2024.

In the first three months of 2025 Australia has exported 89,580t which is up 3pc YoY compared to 2024 volumes.

The US market has continued to be the biggest market for Australian lamb, taking 21,347t until the end of March which is up 4pc YoY, while China has been the next largest taking 14,548t (up 9pc YoY).

While Australia has seen lamb volumes increase to both its biggest two markets in the first three months of 2025, they weren't the markets that saw the biggest jumps in volumes compared to 2024 levels.

The markets which have seen the largest increases were the United Kingdom which was up 78pc and Qatar which was up 63pc.

It was good news for mutton exports as well in 2024 as these hit a record 255,098t, which is 22pc higher than the previous record set in 2023.

Once again China remained the largest market for Australian mutton, taking 95,622t, while Malaysia was the second largest customer for Australian mutton taking 26,953t, followed by the United States at 19,077t.

Like lamb exports, mutton exports have also seen volumes lift in the first three months of 2025 compared to 2024.

Up until the end of March Australia had exported 62,712t of mutton, which was up 7pc YoY.

In the first three months China has taken 21,788t of mutton which is up 15pc YoY, while Malaysia was next largest customer taking 7506t (down 6pc YoY) and Saudi Arabia took 6985t (up 39pc YoY).

The markets which recorded the largest increases in volumes compared to 2024 levels were Canada (up 355pc YoY) and Jordan (up 211pc YoY), while levels to the UAE and the UK increased 61pc and 73pc YoY respectively for the first three months of 2025.

Going forward as with beef, demand for Australian sheepmeat exports looks like it will remain strong according to MLA.

In its sheep industry projections 2025 March update, MLA said together New Zealand and Australia account for more than 80pc of global sheepmeat exports and therefore any reduction in export volumes from either country in 2025 will tighten global supply presenting opportunities for Australian exporters and supporting demand for exported sheepmeat.

"Countries worldwide including the US and UK are easing interest rates to stimulate growth and increase discretionary spending which may boost overall protein consumption," the report said.

"Also the Middle East, North Africa region is showing particularly strong demand for sheepmeat in 2025."

IN terms of live export numbers from Australia, in 2024 cattle volumes increased while sheep numbers declined, compared to 2023 levels.

In 2024 Australia exported 763,527 head of cattle which was up 13pc compared to 2023, making it the second consecutive year of growth.

Indonesia was once again the largest market for Australian live cattle exports taking 537,274 head which was up 49pc compared to 2023 and Vietnam was the second largest market with 119,634 head, which was down 6pc on 2023 numbers.

When it came to sheep exports these totalled 433,078 head in 2024 which was down 33pc on 2023 numbers and according to Meat & Livestock Australia this decline was largely due to vessel availability constraints caused by unscheduled maintenance and a lack of replacement vessels.

The largest market for Australian sheep exports in 2024 was Jordan at 129,300 head, which was up 25pc on YoY, 114,110 head were exported to Kuwait (back 58pc on YoY) and 104,005 head went to Saudi Arabia in 2024 (up 1980pc YoY), which reentered the market in December 2023 after a 12-year absence.

In the first three months of 2025 Australia has exported 133,511 cattle, which is down 10pc YoY compared to the first three months of 2025.

During this period Indonesia has taken 89,739 head, which is up 16pc compared to the first three months of 2024, while Vietnam volumes are down 28pc compared to 2024.

In terms of sheep exports for the first three months of 2025 they are back 46pc compared to the same period last year.

In the first three months of 2025 Australia has exported 123,081 head with Kuwait being the largest market taking 48,941 head which is down 18pc YoY.