Same old politically driven "research" by the MLA. The heading...

Same old politically driven "research" by the MLA.

The heading should have been “Why live cattle imports is a hot market in China” because, in MLA’s own words:

Traditionally, Chinese consumers have preferred fresh meat over chilled or frozen due in large part to limited cold storage and logistics…. the government is closing down wet markets in large cities, government policy fostering large-scale meat production and centralised animal slaughter, rising food safety standards…
Only live exports can deliver fresh (not chilled processed) meat to the new large-scale processors to satisfy Chinese consumers preference for FRESH beef

Australia is well placed to deal with growing competition in China’s chilled beef market by leveraging our market and consumer insights to understand how our product can best meet Chinese consumer needs in certain segments of the market.
China processors are even better placed to create product to best suit the preferences of their local Chinese customers

In fact, the average unit price of Australian chilled beef exports to China in 2017 was 21% above the average of Australia’s combined global markets
China can avoid this premium by processing live cattle materially cheaper than Australia, which has the highest wage rates globally

As a premium product, chilled beef naturally comprises a small proportion of China’s total beef imports. In 2017, imports of chilled beef comprised 1% of total direct beef imports by volume
Demand in China will grow more when they start processing live cattle and selling it at a lower price to their consumers

Emerging competition. China began opening up its chilled red meat market again in 2017, granting access to several new suppliers…US…New Zealand…Canada…Argentina
Australia’s processing costs are higher than these competitors, yet it can ship live cattle cheaper to China / Asia given its closer proximity

Buy Wellard.