WA live sheep trade at risk of ‘dwindling away’, says leading analyst

A leading livestock analyst has warned WA’s live sheep trade will “continue to dwindle away” if the Federal Government does not relax the northern hemisphere moratorium. The Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment this week closed submissions for its review of the moratorium, which since 2019 has banned the export of live sheep to the Middle East during the hottest months of the year. While DAWE’s draft report recommends shortening the prohibition period on live exports to the Red Sea, it also recommends lengthening the ban in all Persian Gulf countries except Kuwait. Thomas Elder Markets analyst Matt Dalgleish said the live export sector wanted the the moratorium reduced to allow increased shipments where there was no threat to animals. “If common sense doesn’t prevail and the moratorium period remains unchanged, there is a risk that the live sheep sector will continue to dwindle away in the west, as it has done in the Eastern States,” he said. “COVID-19 has demonstrated the susceptibility of weak supply chains, particularly when supply or demand hinges on a handful of market participants. “The gradual decline, and eventual death, of the live sheep export trade would diminish the diversity of the sheepmeat supply chains within WA, nationally and around the globe.” As recently as 2011, ports outside WA accounted for about 30 per cent of Australian live sheep exports according to Mr Dalgleish. Since 2018 that figure had plummeted to about 2 per cent. And in a grim sign for WA, Mr Dalgleish said the proportion of live sheep exports from WA had, since the introduction of the moratorium, shrunk from about 30 per cent of the State’s total sheep and lamb turn-off to just 12 per cent. Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton was more optimistic about the industry’s future. “I have every confidence the live sheep export industry has a prosperous and sustainable future particularly given its outstanding performance on animal welfare over the last few years,” he said. “The viability and sustainability of the sector, however, relies on our reputation as a reliable trader of high quality livestock to meet the food security needs of our trading partners in the Middle East. “It is becoming increasingly clear that we have to work harder to maintain this reputation in order to maintain market share in the face of rising competition from Africa, South America and Europe — countries that do not have similar animal welfare safeguards. “To do this we must take every opportunity to maximise shipping opportunities when it is safe do so from an animal welfare perspective.”