Sheep exports resume at critical time for WA producers needing to offload stock

WA’s live sheep trade is back on track with the Al Messilah livestock vessel making its way from Fremantle to Kuwait in the Persian Gulf with about 56,000 head on board after the three-month northern hemisphere summer moratorium ended on September 15.

The vessel was prepared and loaded for departure on September 16, as soon as possible after the moratorium ended, which was seen as a relief for WA sheep producers who have been hanging on to additional stock.

The shipment is expected to arrive at Kuwait on September 30.

Corrigin sheep producer and Livestock Collective director Steven Bolt said the end of the moratorium was “always welcomed” by industry for farmers to continue moving their stock through the supply chain.

“The mixed-farming system in WA has been developed around the live export trade,” Mr Bolt said.

He said low rainfall in the north and the east of the State this season reinforced the need for producers to have access to a market to “turn off numbers” when required, to relieve pressure on their operations.

“There have been so many wethers carried over from last season, there’s an abundance of supply in the market,” Mr Bolt said.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry a total of 498,640 sheep were exported via Fremantle from December 22, 2022 up to June 30, 2023.

Australia has a moratorium on sheep exports during the Northern Hemisphere summer, which began in June and finishes in mid-September, and was introduced in 2019 after the deaths of about 2400 sheep on a voyage from Fremantle.

It effectively bans shipments to the Middle East when animals are most susceptible to heat stress.

Meat and Livestock Australia’s August Monthly Trade Summary reported that the January to August figure of 409,296 was a 49 per cent increase year to date.

With the latest shipment added, the export volumes for the remainder of the year are likely to surpass the 502,758 result for 2022.

This year Kuwait remains the largest export market of live sheep with 163,956 being shipped there so far in 2023.

Israel has also been actively in the live trade, receiving 91,100, followed by Jordan 64,224, Oman 47,946, and the United Arab Emirates with 42,000 head.

Australian Livestock Exporters’ Association chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton said it was “very positive” for the industry that the trade had resumed.

“Sadly, this policy of the Federal Government’s to phase out the live sheep trade has undermined the confidence of the industry in WA,” Mr Harvey-Sutton said.

“We are happy to see the resumption of market options, which is important for producers and also important for our markets as well.

Mr Bolt said the Federal Government “didn’t see the impact” its decision has had on international buyers.

“Australia is now seen as an unreliable source,” he said.

“KLTT’s (Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading, which operates the Al Messilah) preference would be to take more sheep but with the ban hanging over the industry the Middle East is making sure they are developing other markets such as Romania, Somalia and Iran — there’s boats going there all the time.

“If we didn’t have this ban hanging over us I’d suggest we’d have more vessels traveling here more frequently.

“But that hasn’t happened due to Government interference.”

More than 99 per cent of sheep exported from Australia are shipped from WA, with the $92 million trade set to be shut down if Labor wins the next Federal election.