Australian cattle exports to Vietnam show drastic upturn
(VOV) -Vietnam plans to import a record 150,000 head of cattle from Australia in 2014, according to the Vietnam office of trade affairs in Australia.
Vietnam currently ranks third among Australia’s largest cattle importers, the office reported and since the beginning of the year, nearly 40,000 head of Australian cattle have been shipped into the country.
This year, Vietnam is expected to become the second largest cattle importer of Australian beef, just after Indonesia. Previously, Vietnam principally purchased live cattle from Thailand.
In March 2014, an Australian delegation of government officials and businesses led by Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industry, Willem Westra van Holthe toured a number of cattle breeding farms and slaughtering houses in Haiphong and HCM City in preparation for the increase in cattle imports.
Chief executive of the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association, Ben Hindle, said Vietnamese importers have heavily invested in infrastructure development for cattle breeding farms and slaughtering sites.
Hindle forecast that Vietnam’s increasing demand for cattle imports will help stabilize prices on Australia’s cattle market.