North of the Tropic Beef Report  Jack O’Connor– [email protected]

WEATHER OUTLOOK

As highlighted in the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM) latest three month weather outlook, rainfall is likely to exceed average levels in large parts of northern NT and northwest WA, while conditions in southern Queensland and central Australia are forecast to be drier than average for the February to April period.

Across the Top End, regions surrounding Katherine have a 75% chance of exceeding average rainfall for the outlook period – with a similar scenario expected in western regions spanning from Broome to Newman.

Newcastle Waters has close to a 70% chance of receiving above-average showers, while the outlook for Charters Towers and Georgetown is roughly neutral.

LIVE EXPORTS

With the northern wet season continuing to have a tightening effect on supplies throughout December and into January, most indicators started the new year dearer when compared to the same time last year. In the first week of February, feeder steers delivered to Darwin were firm, averaging 378¢, while increased availability in eastern areas resulted in those delivered to Townsville easing to 353¢/kg.

In the first week of February, as a result of the continued judicial review surrounding animal health and zonal imports, the Indonesian government have delayed reviews relating to current ruminant importation restrictions – with no official revisions being made in the short term. Currently, wet market fresh beef prices in the Greater Jakarta region are stable at IDR 110,000-120,000/kg, while bufalo meat is reported to range between IDR 75,000-100,000/ kg – with demand anticipated to rise over the upcoming Ramadhan period.

At the conclusion of 2016, calendar year total Australian live feeder and cattle exports declined 16% on the year prior, at 1.02 million head shipped – with exports to Indonesia back 3% to just over 600,700 head (ABS).

This is an excerpt only -“Reproduced courtesy of Meat & Livestock Australia Limited – www.mla.com.au”

For the full report –mla_north-of-the-tropic-beef-report-_february-2017