AgriHQ's Brick noted that the rising value of the kiwi dollar was "an extra thorn" in the side of exporters, with the local currency recently hitting its highest value against the US dollar since May 2015.
"The appreciation of the New Zealand dollar has eaten into processor margins, and there's an active attempt throughout New Zealand to decrease slaughter prices as a result," he said.
In Japan, the tariff on frozen beef has been lifted to 50 per cent from 38.5 per cent until the end of March next year after "exceptionally high" sales of imported beef, with beef imports in the year to June at the highest level for the country since 2003, Brick said. This means New Zealand exporters will be forced to find alternate markets to divert product into, he said.
ASB Bank senior rural economist Nathan Penny noted that the Japanese tariff change was likely to put a spanner in the works for local beef prices, as Japan is New Zealand's highest paying export market for beef. The average beef export price in the Japan market for the September 2016 year was almost 20 percent higher than the next-best market, and around 45 per cent higher than prices in the US, he said.
Australian beef is exempt from the tariff hike on the back of its trade agreement with Japan, so New Zealand and the US will bear most of the brunt of the increase, Penny said.
In Australia, the national beef kill is continuing back towards its five-year average at a steady pace as the country rebuilds its herds following droughts.