Australia exported 7500 tonnes of beef to China in October, 4000 tonnes in September and 1500 tonnes in August.
Previous monthly exports to China had been between 500 and 1000 tonnes.
The October total made China Australia’s fourth largest beef export market for the month, behind Japan, Korea and the US.
With a population of over 1 billion and a growing middle class, China has long been touted as the holy grail of export markets for Australian protein.
MLA chief economist, Tim McRae said several factors had contributed to the rise in exports to China.
“Reportedly their own beef supply in China is very tight - supply has tighten up in their own production systems and also some product that they typically source from other countries has tightened up and that’s got them looking for additional product,” he said.
“Australian exporters are also looking for new markets given the softness we have seen in some of our traditional markets.”
Mr McRae said the rise in exports to China had caught many unawares, including MLA analysts.
“I think it was mid this year that I said that we expected them to take 10,000 tonnes for the year so they have dashed that on me in two months,” he said.
“We are definitely watching this market closely and see it as a positive for the industry and potentially a large market for us to service.”
Mr McRae said most of the Australian product sold into China was frozen product, indicating it was lower value manufacturing beef.
“We’ve also seen the matching decline in manufacturing beef in Japan in corresponding months,” he said.
“Ultimately what we would like to see develop in that market, which we are not seeing happen yet, would be for them to take some higher quality product.”
News that Australian exporters were making headway in China was well received at the Young Beef Producers Forum in Roma on Thursday.
Queensland Country Life asked some of the 130 delegates attending the two-day conference for their thoughts on the issue.
