MEAT processors and producers are playing down fears that Australia will soon lose the
Indonesian market after Jakarta announced that their boxed beef and live cattle annual import quota forecasts had been slashed for 2012.
Indonesia's live cattle import quota for the coming year was forecast at 282,000 head compared with 520,000 last year, while its global beef imports were estimated at 34,000 tonnes, about one third of 2011 shipments.
Jakarta said the cuts were a step towards the nation achieving self-sufficiency in beef by 2014 but doubts remain about the capacity of the Indonesian cattle herd (officially estimated at about 13 million) to meet the growing appetite of Indonesia's swelling middle and upper classes for protein.
Some speculation has suggested the cutbacks were in retaliation for the Gillard Government's decision last June to halt the live trade after a controversial ABC TV program showed footage of cattle being treated cruelly in some Indonesian abattoirs, but local industry spokesmen have been keen to avoid c
ommenting on that claim.
The executive director of the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association, Luke Bowen, expected that Indonesia's live cattle quota would be revised upwards in coming months, hopefully well in time for the peak of the export season during the middle of the year.
Live exports now had largely ground to a halt, he said, which had hit a few producers, including one NT cattleman who had 3000 head awaiting shipment.
Mr Bowen expected that any spike in Indonesian beef prices would trigger an increase in imports. He said the fundamentals in the Indonesian beef market and economy remained strong and offered room for growth for both their domestic and the Australian beef industries.
The Australian Meat Industry Council, the top body for meat processors, retailers and smallgoods manufacturers, was also confident Indonesia would lift its quota for boxed beef and offal imports.
Its national director (processing), Steve Martyn, said Indonesia had issued import permits for 20,000t for the first half of 2012, leaving only 14,000t to cover the second half of the year, which includes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in July-August, whose end is marked by family feasting.
Reduced supplies of imported beef and high demand could push up Indonesian meat prices and force Jakarta to review its beef import quota, as had happened last year when the forecast quota of 50,000t almost doubled during the course of 2011, he said.
Mr Martyn said Australian meat processors were keen to work closely and co-operatively with the Indonesian Government to ensure the market remained an important destination for our beef.
Australia now dominates Indonesia's beef imports against its competitors including the US and NZ.
He said that while Jakarta had said the cutbacks in both boxed beef and live cattle imports this year were a step towards the country achieving self-sufficiency in beef production, Indonesia may be shoring up its food security rather than pursuing a policy of zero beef and slaughter cattle imports.
Indonesia has also tightened labelling regulations on imported boxed beef and, from yesterday, AQIS started including quota permit numbers on health statements. Indonesia also wants dual labelling on boxes written in English and Bahasa only.
Shadow Agriculture and Food Minister John Cobb said the cuts in its beef quota confirmed Coalition claims that Indonesia would not substitute boxed beef for live exports.
"Last year (global) boxed meat permits were issued by Indonesia for 99,000 tonnes. There are common sense and practical reasons why boxed meat would not replace live exports.
"The include the fact that most buyers of our meat are in villages or small communities without access to reliable consistent power and that 90 percent of households do not have refrigeration," he said.
"The Gillard Government is directly responsible for Indonesia cutting our live export permits from the current 520,000 cattle (in 2011) to just 280,000 next year and now, the reduction in our boxed meat quotas," Mr Cobb said.
"Because the current Australian Government has been so unreliable with trade relations, Indonesia may now begin sourcing cattle from our major competitors which could lead to the end of our trade altogether.
"All those, including Labor and Green MPs, who said the boxed meat market could fill this market should not only apologise but they should also use their own resources to find replacement markets for Australian cattle.
"While there are alternatives for our boxed meat market, there are few alternatives for northern (Australian) pastoralists.
"They rely on live exports as southern markets are distant and past attempts to establish abattoirs in the north have failed, due to the short operational periods, the wet season and the lack of the availability of affordable fodder."
Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
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