Australia resumes cattle trade with RI

Australia resumes cattle trade with RI

SYDNEY (Bloomberg): Australia has resumed its live cattle trade with Indonesia, stopped last year when the Indonesian currency collapsed during Asia's economic crisis.

The first Australian shipment this year bound for a feedlot has landed in the country bringing 2,100 head of cattle.

"It's just starting out in small way," said Sid Parker, principal of Southeast Asian Livestock Services, a cattle exporter. "The idea is to get light cattle and feed them up for the religious ceremony." Ramadhan, a Moslem fasting month, which starts Dec. 9 this year.

Australia's live cattle exports to Indonesia stopped after the Indonesian currency collapsed to as low as 16,950 rupiah to the U.S. dollar from 2,500 rupiah.

Until then Indonesia was Australia's biggest market for live cattle, taking as many as 240,000 head in the first eight months of last year. Now, the Philippines is the largest market for live cattle exports.

The revival of the trade follows talks in Jakarta last week between industry and government representatives from Australia and Indonesia who agreed no government subsidies should be invoked to facilitate the trade.

"We wanted to see a revival under normal commercial operations," said Christopher Creal, executive director of the Australian Meat Council.

The startup of trade, though, is hardly under normal circumstances, said Alan Woods, manager of Fares Rural Co. in Darwin, the exporter of the 2,100 head just landed in Indonesia.