Australia is the largest exporter of quality livestock in the world, exporting around 900,000 cattle and 6 million sheep annually. Approximately one third of the cattle exported from Australia are through the Port of Darwin, making Darwin the busiest livestock port in the world today.
Darwin is ideally situated to supply the markets of Indonesia, the Philippines and the rest of SE Asia. Northern Australia is home to large numbers of tropically adapted cattle ideal for fattening in South East Asian feedlots. The trade is facilitated by the fact that Australia has a disease free herd. The imported Australian cattle are fed on the abundant supplies of agricultural bi-products available in the importing countries. In doing so, Australian cattle are able to be value added while at the same time enhancing domestic employment opportunities.
During the 1980s and particularly the 1990s, significant markets were developed in Indonesia and the Philippines in particular, as sophisticated modern feedlots were developed. This growth was linked with rapid economic development in these economies, and was also a reflection of their Government's desire to increase protein consumption. |
