Making up the record monthly volume was primarily manufacturing beef and shin/shank, totalling 2,494 tonnes swt (up 569 per cent year-on-year) and 1,033 tonnes swt (up 180 per cent year-on-year), respectively.
The increase in manufacturing beef was registered for 65CL, up from only 116 tonnes swt in October 2011, to 1,835 tonnes swt for the past month.
Brisket shipments during October totalled 1,390 tonnes swt, while silverside reached 1,094 tonnes swt.
Lamb shipments to China during October lifted to 2,693 tonnes swt - increasing 69 per cent year-on-year and four per cent above the previous record month, set in July 2012 (2,583 tonnes swt). Mutton exports during October also reached a record high 2,889 tonnes swt – surpassing the previous record by over 1,000 tonnes swt.
The most popular sheepmeat cuts during October remained breast and flap meat, accounting for 57 per cent of the overall shipments, or 3,164 tonnes (up 85 per cent year-on-year).
The surge in Australian sheepmeat shipments during October was also assisted by strong demand for shoulder cut, which had traditionally represented a very small proportion of sheepmeat exports to China.
Total sheepmeat shoulder exports to China for October were 396 tonnes swt, with the shipments for the first ten months of 2012 reaching 865 tonnes swt – up from only 106 tonnes swt during 2011.
