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Notable increase in value of Australian bovine offal exports to China in 2015
10 December 2015
China is Australia’s seventh largest market for bovine offal.
Australia exported 4,053 tonnes swt of frozen bovine offal to China from January to November in 2015, up 5% compared to the same period in 2014. However, the year-to-date value increased 18% from 2014 to 2015, reaching A$19,349,665 in 2015. November has been a strong month this year, with 368 tonnes swt exported compared to 203 tonnes for the month last year – an increase of 81%.
This growth in volume has been supported by a comparatively competitive unit price – averaging USD2.66 per kilogram year-to-date to October 2015, which is 4% lower than for the same period in 2014. At the same time, Australia’s unit price has been increasing over 2015 from USD2.53 in January to USD4.04 in October, boosting the growth in value. The value for October 2015 is up 172% year-on-year compared to October 2014.
Uruguay is China’s biggest bovine offal supplier with a 57% volume share for the year-to-date from January to October 2015, totalling 10,248 tonnes swt so far for 2015. Uruguayan bovine offal imported to China averaged USD3.63 per kilogram over this same period.
There is as yet no tripe protocol between Australia and China, hence heart and tendon currently make up the bulk of Australia’s current bovine offal exports to China, followed by kidney.
Hong Kong is Australia’s third largest market for bovine offal, which is mostly frozen. From January to October 2015, Australia exported 15,435 tonnes swt to Hong Kong, valued at A$72,628,660. The vast majority of this product is tripe.