Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has responded to a report commissioned by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, which found that processed sheep meat was worth 20 percent more than live sheep exports.
However, MLA believes reducing live sheep exports in favour of processing meat locally would damage the economy and cost Australia its market share, according to its live exports manager Michael Finucan: “All it would be doing is giving a segment of the market away to another competitor.”
He added that it was uncertain that processed meat exports would make up for the loss of live export revenue. “There may be more value in [processed meat] but you can’t get that value unless they purchase it,” he said.
Authored by consultancy firm ACIL Tasman, the report found that for every $100 of output created in Western Australia through live exports, the state gained $81, but for local processing, the amount was $101.50.
Finucan noted that most of Australia’s live sheep exports went to Middle Eastern markets, which required chilled, frozen and live product, and that it was important that Australia cater for all of those. “There’s value in all of those categories,” he said.
