Advantage Brazil: Australian Beef Exports Hit By Sliding Slaughter Rate

For three years, Australian cattle abattoirs have worked around the clock slaughtering record numbers of animals to supply to the world market, breaking only for a few days over Christmas.

Now, some of the biggest plants have been idled with the national herd at its smallest in decades, heralding a sharp cut in sales by the world's third-biggest beef exporter to major buyers such as the United States, China and Japan.

While this will buoy global beef prices, as the United States rebuilds its own herd, it will also offer exporters such as Brazil and Argentina an opportunity to step up sales.

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