Halt on carabeef in Indonesia ‘nothing to get excited about’

It was likely driven by the fact cold stores were full and could well be temporary, live cattle exporters said.

Reports in Indonesian media of the halting of carabeef imports had been linked with a ruling by that country’s Constitutional Court following lobbying from local beef industry groups and veterinarians.

The court stressed meat and cattle purchased from countries prone to foot and mouth disease should only occur during emergency situations.

However, any ban was still at the government’s discretion and it was within the government’s constitutional power to import carabeef, Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association chief executive officer Stuart Kemp explained.

“As much as we would love to see it, the reality is maybe nothing will change longer term, this could simply be a reaction to the fact plenty of meat is on hand,” he said.

“It’s a wait and see situation.”

Commonwealth Bank agribusiness analyst Tobin Gorey said an ongoing ban would certainly be good news for the Australian beef industry.

“The growing acceptance of cheaper Indian buffalo meat was expected to have an impact on Indonesian demand for Australian beef and live cattle over the next few years,” he said.

Mr Gorey pointed out even with a halt to carabeef imports there was still the issue of other Indonesian policies, such as the requirement for a number of breeders per slaughter cattle, which were affecting the trade with Australia.

“However, if carabeef is no longer an option perhaps a rethink in that policy might be forthcoming,” he said.

Lower numbers of live cattle have been exported out of the north of Australia in January but that was no red flag, Mr Kemp said.

Numbers were down 3000 head.

“Things quieten typically during the wet season and that change really is negligible,” he said.

Orders for live cattle in coming months are also a bit quiet.

“It could be because importers are waiting on possible changes to the life cycle of permits, or due to concerns about butchers not buying at the same volume,” Mr Kemp said.

“Competition is certainly strong in Indonesia, be it from boxed beef or buffalo.

“However, we will wait and see how the next few months play out before saying anything about what effect Indian imports have had on our industry.”