Australian giant Wellard exports 2,000 heifers to boost Sri Lanka dairy industry; 18,000 more by end

Wednesday, 17 May 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

South East Asian countries looking to go down a path of dairy self-sufficiency appear to be taking the opportunity created by declining Chinese demand to lock in supply of Australian and New Zealand export heifers.

Australia’s largest cattle exporter, Wellard Ltd., this week delivered its first shipment of 2,000 pregnancy-tested-in-calf Friesian Jersey cross heifers to Sri Lanka under a contract to supply 20,000 head by the end of next year.

Most were sourced from the North Island of New Zealand. Wellard says the next shipment will be from Australia.

Sri Lanka has generally taken around 1,000 to 1,500 head a year from Australia over the past couple of years so the Wellard development represents a significant boost in business.

Dairy analysts said Sri Lanka, along with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, had stepped up to take Australian heifers in the wake China’s lowered buying activity taking some heat out of prices.

Dairy Australia analyst John Droppert said China was still far and away our dominant market but the peaks of three years ago, when 92,000 head went to China, have slowed in correlation with lower dairy prices globally.

Australia has exported a total of around 70,000 head of dairy heifers for the past two financial years.

Last year, China took 56,000 head, Pakistan and Kuwait took the next largest shipments and then South East Asia.

Rabobank senior dairy analyst Michael Harvey said dairy export heifers had proven an important cash flow market for milk producers in the past couple of years.

Generally, the market has returned a premium over domestic sales of around $200 to $300. (Source: http://www.farmonline.com.au)