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Forrest and Elders announce live export plan for China

Mining tycoon Andrew Forrest and Australian agribusiness Elders are pursuing a deal to further open up live cattle exports to China.

The deal will see Forrest and Elders capitalise on China’s increasing taste for Australian beef, and experts believe that the opening of the Chinese market will cause a surge in the value of grazing land and encourage investment in larger cattle herds – leading to an overall increase in prices, The West Australian reports.

Forrest and Elders have been working together to create a supply chain into China since last year, and recent talks with senior Chinese officials in WA surrounding the relaxing of Beijing’s strict quarantine laws represent a significant step towards the venture becoming a reality.

Both Forrest and Elders have allegedly been in talks with a number of Chinese processors in relation to the deal including a pork and chicken processor in the Hainan district.

The Western Australian state government has also been working towards developing a live export trade with China. Rob Delane, the director general of WA’s Department of Agriculture and Food said that the department was ‘optimistic’ that the Chinese government will approve the deal.

“We are very optimistic, and doing a lot of work at the moment, that a significant market for live cattle for slaughter can be opened up," he said.

Delane noted that the Australian cattle industry was already struggling to keep up with the live export trade to Indonesia and other South-East Asian countries, stating that at this stage herd numbers were “clearly a limitation”.  

Forrest however has increased his ownership of pastoral land to than 720,000ha in anticipation of such a deal coming to fruition.

 

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