New Zealand red meat sector achieves record value for sheepmeat during October

New Zealand red meat exports reached $827 million in October, a 27 per cent increase on the same period last year, according to an analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA).

The value of exports to most major markets was higher than last October, with the US up 36 per cent to $196 million, the EU up 31 per cent to $159 million, the UK up 130 per cent to $64 million, and Canada up 55 per cent to $52 million.

The one major exception was China, where exports were down eight per cent, due to a drop in both beef and sheepmeat exports.
MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said the combination of strong demand and tighter global supplies this year saw the average value of NZ sheepmeat exports reach a record $14.31/kg during the month.

“The overall volume of sheepmeat exports was up 10 per cent but the value was up 48 per cent due to strong demand in Europe and North America,” said Karapeeva.

“The overall volume of beef exports was down seven per cent compared to last October, but the value was up 15 per cent.”
Karapeeva said higher tariffs do not appear to have impacted red meat exports to the US during October.

“New Zealand beef exports to the US fell 17 per cent by volume but there was also a drop in Australian beef exports, so that was unlikely to be due to tariffs.

“There was a large drop in beef exports to China, down 30 per cent by volume to 5,340 tonnes and 23 per cent by value to $41 million.

“Following the US putting an additional 40 per cent tariff on imports from Brazil in August, raising the overall beef tariff to 76 per cent, there has been a significant diversion of Brazilian beef exports to other markets, particularly China.

“In September and October, China imported nearly 340,000 tonnes of beef from Brazil, which has displaced imports from other suppliers, including New Zealand.”

Sheepmeat

New Zealand exported 27,239 tonnes of sheepmeat with a value of $390m.

Exports to the EU were up 20 per cent by volume and 56 per cent by value to $132 million, a record for sheepmeat exports to the EU for October. This is likely due to a combination of good demand and current lower EU domestic production.

Exports to the US were up 61 per cent by volume and 85 per cent by value, totalling 3,620 tonnes worth $75 million.

Volumes to the UK were down 23 per cent to 1,528 tonnes, but value increased by 14 per cent to $23 million.

Volume to China was down 13 per cent to 10,762 tonnes but value increased by two per cent to $80 million.

Overall New Zealand sheepmeat exports for the year to date are largely unchanged from 2024. However, Australian sheepmeat exports are eight per cent lower – and 23 per cent lower for the July to October months compared to the same period last year.

Beef

A total of 24,718 tonnes of beef was exported during the month, with a value of $285 million.

Exports to the US were down 17 per cent by volume, but the value increased by three per cent to $86 million, achieving a record average value of $13.62/kg.

There was further growth in beef exports to the UK, up by around 1000 per cent in volume and value to 3,151 tonnes worth $38 million, also a record monthly volume and value.

Fifth quarter

Fifth quarter exports were up eight per cent from last October, to $153 million.

This was mainly due to a 40 per cent increase in exports of prepared meat to $28 million, and a 396 per cent increase in exports of tallow to $25 million.

Tallow is often exported in bulk shipments, and there can be significant fluctuations from month to month. There was a low level of tallow exports last October, and the major growth this October was in exports to the US, which were worth nearly $17 million.

The US was the largest fifth quarter market for October, with exports worth $34 million, ahead of China at $32 million and Australia at $20 million.