Live sheep exports get May boost

Total sheep exports from Australia in May came in at 95,820 head, a seven per cent increase from April volumes, according to figures from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Although export levels remain 26pc below the five-year average pattern for May, they are well above May 2022 level, when 54,719 head were shipped to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.

This year May exports by sea were split between five Middle Eastern countries with the lead-up to major festival Eid al-Adha, which involves the ritual sacrifice of sheep, cattle, goats and camels likely giving numbers a bit of a bump.

Kuwait took 34,988 sheep from Australia in May, which is 39pc below the five-year average for May and 23pc down on April volumes.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates each took 20,000 head of sheep during the month, while 18,895 head went to Jordan, 176pc increase from April volumes.

Demand grew significantly in Oman, with 18,446 head shipped for an increase of 163pc from April volumes and 500pc higher than the five-year average pattern for May that sits at just 3,065 head.

May also saw 2864 head flown to Malaysia for slaughter.

Episode 3 market analyst Matt Dalgleish said over the last few years, the moratorium has seen May become the peak month as countries try to import as many Australian sheep as they can before the three-month shutdown.

"Qatar has obviously gone off the boil because they're not getting a subsidy any more for Australian product and Kuwait has also drifted off a little bit," he said.

"I think Kuwait's one that is starting to transition to alternatives as well like Romania, Somalia, Sudan and South Africa... they look to me as if they're starting to adjust their source countries because we're proceeding with this phase out."

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Mr Dalgleish said festivals such as Eid al-Adha demonstrated that Middle Eastern markets were unlikely to switch their preferences to boxed meat simply because Australia plans to phase out live sheep exports by sea.

"There hasn't been a drift away from live exports over the last five years, what there has been is an adjustment of market share so that Australia has lost market share in the live space and other countries have picked it up," he said.

"Those other countries are ones that have lower levels of welfare standards, they have higher mortalities and less safe ships that are potentially sometimes un-seaworthy, more crowded conditions and sheep that have arrived in their destination in poorer condition."

Live sheep exports out of Australia have been declining year-on-year, dropping from more than 1.176 million in 2018 to just over 500,000 in 2022.

But Australian Live Exporters Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said it was part of the natural fluctuations of the market, with the possibility of growth in the future despite phase out plans.

"You've got to remember the last two years have been quite a low volume period and that's been driven by sheep demand in the eastern states as well," he said.

"There are ebbs and flows... that decline in number is consistent with what we've seen with meat exports as well, cattle exports and we're really hitting the point now where they're starting to uptick.

"But the bigger philosophical question is just because volumes are low, do you shut something down?

"I would argue not and the fact that there is still demand for sheep in those markets demonstrates that there still is a market there and that's one that Western Australian producers very much rely on for their sheep production."

Mr Harvey-Sutton said there had been significant interest from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest importer of sheep, in taking shipments from Australia again.

"It took over 10 years for them to return to the Australian market, initially they exited after the introduction of ESCAS... but they have indicated that they are keen to buy Australian sheep again," he said.

"The fact that we could have a new market despite all the prevailing conditions and policy settings that are impacting the industry just really speaks volumes to how much it's relied on and how important it really is."