Australian sheep exports to Britain just ‘business as usual’

Australian sheepmeat exports to the UK are just “business as usual”, according to CEO of Sheep Producers Australia, Bonnie Skinner.

Skinner said while the free trade agreement (FTA) operating between the two countries was welcome, the destination is not Australian producers’ main focus for their lamb.

She said her members simply wanted to compliment British farmers’ own lamb production.

“For us, it’s business as usual in so much as we want to be able to provide high-quality sheepmeat to the world and we want to be able to do that when customers and consumers want it,” she said.

“We want to be able to complement the production cycles that are happening in the UK and with a counter seasonal supply.

Pressing opportunities

“When there is a lack of supply, when people want to consume sheepmeat in the UK, we want to be able to provide that,” she added.

Skinner said there were more pressing opportunities for Australian lamb’s “premiumisation” in other global markets and exporters are more likely to be looking to those.

“I consider the job globally, for all countries, is to get lamb on as many menus as possible as often as possible,” she said.

Her comments come as sheepmeat exports from Australia to the UK hit 22,000t by mid-November this year, up more than 10,000t on 2023 levels.

While these export volumes to the UK have increased, Skinner said there would be a focus on finding export opportunities for Australian lamb and mutton closer to home, in Asian markets in particular.

She said the UK is not a market the country could make sustained gains in long-term.

“We want lamb to be a protein of choice and that’s what free trade allows us to do.”