NZ red meat exports surge 27% to $827m in October, led by US and EU demand

The Meat Industry Association has reported that October was a good month for New Zealand sheepmeat exports.

New Zealand red meat exports reached $827 million in October, a 27% increase on the same period last year, according to an analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA).

The value of exports to most major markets was higher than last October, with the US up 36% to $196m, the EU up 31% to $159m, the UK up 130% to $64m, and Canada up 55% to $52m.

The one major exception was China, where exports were down 8%, due to a drop in both beef and sheepmeat exports.

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said the combination of strong demand and tighter global supplies this year saw the average value of New Zealand sheepmeat exports reach a record $14.31/kg during the month.

“The overall volume of sheepmeat exports was up 10% but the value was up 48% due to strong demand in Europe and North America,” Karapeeva said.

“The overall volume of beef exports was down 7% compared to last October, but the value was up 15%.”

Karapeeva said higher tariffs did not appear to have impacted red meat exports to the US during October.

“New Zealand beef exports to the US fell 17% by volume, but there was also a drop in Australian beef exports, so that was unlikely to be due to tariffs.

“However, there was a large drop in beef exports to China, down 30% by volume to 5340 tonnes and 23% by value to $41m.”

Karapeeva said that, following the US putting an additional 40% tariff on imports from Brazil in August, which raised the overall beef tariff to 76%, there had been a significant diversion of Brazilian beef exports to other markets, particularly China.

“In September and October, China imported nearly 340,000 tonnes of beef from Brazil, which has displaced imports from other suppliers, including New Zealand.”

Sheepmeat

New Zealand exported 27,239 tonnes of sheepmeat with a value of $390m.

Exports to the EU were up 20% by volume and 56% by value to $132m, a record for sheepmeat exports to the EU for October.

This is likely due to a combination of good demand and the current lower EU domestic production.

Exports to the US were up 61% by volume and 85% by value, totalling 3620 tonnes, worth $75m.

Volumes to the UK were down 23% to 1528 tonnes, but value increased by 14% to $23m.

Volume to China was down 13% to 10,762 tonnes, but value increased by 2% to $80m.

Overall, New Zealand sheepmeat exports for the year to date are largely unchanged from 2024.

However, Australian sheepmeat exports are 8% lower, and 23% lower for the July to October months compared to the same period last year.

Beef

A total of 24,718 tonnes of beef was exported during the month, with a value of $285m.

Exports to the US were down 17% by volume, but the value increased by 3% to $86m, achieving a record average value of $13.62/kg.

There was further growth in beef exports to the UK, up by around 1000% in volume and value to 3151 tonnes worth $38 million, also a record monthly volume and value.

Fifth quarter

Fifth quarter exports were up 8% from last October, to $153m.

This was mainly due to a 40% increase in exports of prepared meat to $28m, and a 396% increase in exports of tallow to $25m.

Tallow is often exported in bulk shipments, and there can be significant fluctuations from month to month.

There was a low level of tallow exports last October, and the major growth this October was in exports to the US, which were worth nearly $17m.

The US was the largest fifth quarter market for October, with exports worth $34m, ahead of China at $32 million and Australia at $20m.