CURRENT Market
- Mike Meng 1530662 -
As the largest lamb exporter, New Zealand has taken up to 47% of the total lamb trade in the world (Slater, 2010). It is one of the economy driving forces in New Zealand which has generated on average an annual revenue of 2.55 billion NZ dollars in last 5 years (Slater, 2010).
Figure (1)The New Zealand export products from 1970 to 2006
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The lamb export started with the first successful carcasses shipment to England in1882 (Morris,2013). As show in figure (1) from 1971 to 2006, the export lamb products have shifted from 90% in whole carcasses to 81.5% as lamb cuts (Morris,2013).
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With the introduction of Captech packaging in 1988, which greatly preserved the storage quality of chilled lamb by using carbon dioxide (Morris,2013). Thanks to the commercialisation of new technology, more parts of the world are able to enjoy the taste of New Zealand chilled lamb (Morris,2013).
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As a result, the chilled lamb export significantly increased its share to over 15% by market value in 2006 (Morris,2013).
Figure (2). Market distribution of New Zealand lamb by volume in 2007
New Zealand is known to be a beautiful living habitat for many mammals especially lambs. According to NZ's agricultural production statistics, there are just under 30 million sheep in New Zealand in 2007 (Statistics New Zealand, n.d.).
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As indicated in figure (2), over 92% of the lamb being produced in 2014 have been exported (The Meat Industry Association,2016). With European Union to be the biggest consumer flowed by North America and North Asia (The Meat Industry Association,2016). The Lamb trade contributes to over 13% of New Zealand’s total export value (The Meat Industry Association,2016). In particular, England took the largest market share among European countries followed by Germany and France.
On the other hand, only less than 11% of New Zealand Lamb have entered the rest of Asian countries apart from North Asia (The Meat Industry Association,2016). For example in 2012, although China has become the largest market for New Zealand frozen lamb cuts, majority of those cuts are low-cost which is about half of the prize sold in European Union (Morris,2013). Beside China, there are also many other countries in Asia with huge market potentials such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc. Seeking more trade with those countries will be a golden opportunity to boost our lamb export.
Figure (3) Primal cuts of Lamb (Rod.S, 2010)
Lamb carcasses and cuts are the major export lamb products. According to New Zealand meat board (2004), both products are graded based on fat and weight class.
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The exported lamb carcasess are weighted after the removal of pelt, head, feet, internal organs, mammary system and codes, skirts, internal fats, tail, aorta and neck (NewZealand meat board, 2004). Majority of those part are processed into animal feed or fertiliser for a very low price (NewZealand meat board, 2004). Most of the exported lamb cuts are primary cut as show in figure (3).
