ALEC's Members
ALEC members include Australian Government licensed livestock exporters by sea and air of feeder, slaughter and breeder sheep, cattle (beef and dairy), goats, buffalo and camels.
Our members account for more than 96 per cent of Australia’s annual livestock exports. ALEC’s membership also extends to supply chain participants including producers, registered premise operators, ship owners and other suppliers to the trade.
State-based exporter associations from NT, WA, Queensland and southern Australia are also members of ALEC.
Market access facts
The primary markets for exported Australian livestock are South-East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Other markets include Japan, Russia and Turkey.
SOUTH EAST ASIA Australia is the main exporter of livestock to South-East Asia, supplying protein alongside red meat derived from domestic livestock production, via mainly by intra-regional trade of cattle, sheep and goats and from frozen product exported from India and South America.
In 2016-17 Indonesia (509,110 head) and Vietnam (158,201 head) accounted for more than two-thirds of Australia’s total live cattle exports.
Other countries in South East Asia which import Australia cattle include Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Malaysia is Australia's largest market for live goats, importing 25,786 head in 2016-17, accounting for 90 per cent of total goat volumes. An increasing number of Australian sheep are also being imported by Malaysia, with 54,063 consigned in 2016-17.
INDONESIA is the largest market for Australian live cattle, taking over 50 per cent of cattle exported, importing 509,110 head in 2016-17.
A number of Australian companies have invested in the Indonesian supply chain, with significant interests in feedlots, abattoirs and breeding programs. One such example, Juang Jaya Abdi Alam, consists of cattle importing, feeding and fattening, plus a number of breeding projects, generating flow-on employment to 12,000 Indonesians.
CHINA is Australia’s largest export market for dairy and beef breeding cattle, taking 66,930 in 2016-2017.
Backed by the quality and health status of our national herd, Australia is the only country with approval to export feeder and slaughter cattle to China, with that trade commencing in 2016 and expected to experience significant growth in the future.
THE MIDDLE EAST has been main market for Australian sheep for more than half century, with the overall sheep export trade worth $228 million in 2015-2016.
Kuwait represents Australia's longest standing and largest live sheep market, stretching back to 1960.
In 2016-17, Kuwait imported 643,671 Australian sheep - more than a third of total sheep exports.
Almost six decades of ensuing live sheep trade between Australian exporters and the Middle East, mostly in the Arabian Gulf and Israel, has evolved into a market which now averages two million head per year and plays a substantial role in underpinning farmgate returns for sheep across the country.