Australia-The Beef trade.

AUSTRALIA-THE CATTLEINDUSTRY-

Confidence in cattle industry projections

Looking beyond the current stock rundowns and negative market sentiment, MLA market analysts have confidence in their positive cattle industry projections for 2009 – based on market fundamentals. The main economic positive for 2009 is a 33% fall in the Australian dollar against the US dollar and a 44% drop against the Japanese yen since July 2008. Currently, importers in Japan and the US are buying Australian beef 30-40% cheaper than in July 2008. This should generate additional export sales and price rises (in Australian dollar terms) once a market balance has been restored.