AuctionsPlus quarterly “Buyer and Seller Regional Rankings” has been developed by the AuctionsPlus Market Insights (AMI) team to increase market awareness regarding the transactional trends and regional movement of cattle through Australia’s largest cattle market. With all livestock sales on AuctionsPlus, the geographic data of the participants is provided, but remains confidential on an individual basis. However, the aggregation of the geographic data of buyers and sellers over a longer period, in this instance quarterly, can be very instructive and highlight various transactional and seasonal trends in regions across Australia.
During the third quarter of 2021 (1 July – 30 September 2021), there was a total of 218,189 head of cattle offered through AuctionsPlus – an increase of 25% from the third quarter of 2020. Making up the 25% year-on-year increase was a 17% jump in the number of females offered, at 126,512 head – as PTIC heifers continued to be the largest category of cattle offered. Male numbers jumped 32%, to total 81,185 head.
Given the sustained robust demand for all categories of cattle throughout the quarter, average clearance rates were at a record high of 89% (chart 1) - exceeding the previous quarterly high of 87% in the second quarter of 2020 and up from 85% year-on-year. While overall clearance rates can vary across categories and weeks, two standout features throughout the quarter included consistently high clearance for young steers, often exceeding 95%, whilst the PTIC heifer clearance rate in recent weeks has been volatile, falling to 50-60% at the immediate conclusion of respective auctions.
The cattle market moved higher throughout the July-September quarter, with the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator making itself very comfortable above 1,000c/kg cwt. Key AuctionsPlus market prices also hit record highs throughout the quarter, driven by the excellent seasonal conditions across many key cattle regions. Recent rainfall across some drier regions of Queensland ignited prices from the beef demand equation and underpinned a strong performance for the quarter.
Closer analysis of selected breed categories for AuctionsPlus throughout the quarter continued to reinforce the robust state of the market. Angus 280-330kg steers averaged $1,927/head – up 38% year-on-year, while PTIC Hereford heifers averaged 40% higher year-on-year, at $2,393/head. Brahman steers, 280-330kg averaged 39% higher year-on-year, averaging $1,508/head, while Droughtmaster PTIC heifers averaged 30% higher, averaging $2,130/head. The AuctionsPlus quarterly cattle breed price breakdown will be released Thursday, 14th October.
Buyer & Seller Regional Rankings – September Quarter 2021
As expected, when ranking buying and selling regions on the total number of cattle transacted through AuctionsPlus on a quarterly basis, Southeast Queensland is easily the largest, with 41,331 head purchased (see Table 1) and 32,160 head sold (see Table 2). As the focal point for Australian lot feeding and processing sector, the majority of Australia’s adult cattle will “finish their days” in this region. Most notably for this region during the September quarter is the 9,171 head net inflow of cattle into the region (see Table 3). After a dry run, rain through key regions sparked some additional purchasing of female lines into the region, with most coming in from the western and central regions of Queensland (see Table 4).
Map 1 shows the main growth regions for cattle transactions in the September 2021 quarter. An inflow of 9,171 head of cattle into the Southeast of Queensland, followed by 7,830 head into the NW Slopes and Plains of NSW and an additional 6,785 head into the Riverina regions of NSW.
When the net inflows are calculated over a 12-month period, the three main regions of the September quarter again dominate, with a net inflow of 24,393 head into the southeast corner of Queensland. For the same 12-month period, a net outflow of 57,910 head (see table 4) was registered for western, central, and northern Queensland, as poorer seasonal conditions dictated producers selling decisions, along with the lure of the excellent prices on offer. Whilst the net outflow from these regions is a small fraction of the total addressable market from western, central, and northern Queensland – it does serve as a good indication of the broader market sentiment of producers in these regions.
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