Australian cattle exports surpass 80,000 head in April

Cattle export volumes from Australia in April surged to the highest monthly total of the year to date, but notably no shipments were sent to the second largest market of Vietnam during the month. Australia exported 81,780 in April, the highest monthly total since December when 91,013 cattle shipped, Beef Central said. The April total is 23 percent above the five-year rolling average for the month.

The bulk of exports for the month went to Indonesia, which took 65,655 head. Of the total, 64,629 head were feeder cattle and 1,037 were productive cattle.

For the second month in succession more than 6,000 dairy heifers were exported to China, while 3,681 of feeder cattle were shipped to Israel in April.

The other primary destination for Australian cattle in April was Mexico, which took a shipment of 4,995 dairy heifers, the second of what is expected to be four shipments to the market this year.