High cattle prices prove costly for exporter

WELLARD shares have hit an all-time low after Australia’s biggest cattle exporter said it expects to post an annual loss as high prices for local cattle weigh on demand from Asia.

Wellard said cattle prices in Australia remain “uneconomi- cally high” as farmers hold stock and grow their herds.

“These sustained high prices have meant that the traditional Indonesian and Vietnamese live export markets have been depressed, with buyers reducing the number of cattle pur- chased and not willing to absorb or pass on the increased costs,” the company said.

It said its previous expectations of market improvement at this point in the season had not materialised, with conditions remaining extremely dif- ficult. Wellard expects its trading loss in the second half of the financial year will be significantly larger than its $16 million first-half loss, and indicated an annual pre-tax loss of between $55 million and $65 million.