A DELEGATION of Thai government officials, investors and farmers has toured the State, exploring opportunities to boost the trade of WA-produced live cattle and grain into Thailand.
Perth-based company AusThai Capital, in association with IXP Consulting International, hosted the delegation which travelled more than 3000 kilometres of WA and the Northern Territory, touring feedlots, farms and quarantine facilities in Perth, Darwin and Katherine.
AusThai Capital directors are major shareholders in Thai company IXP Consulting International, which runs a beef cattle feedlot in the province of Surin and a napier farm in Thailand’s Mukdahan province.
The company is working to set up a supply chain of high-quality breeder cattle from Australia, to boost the Thai herd and improve genetics to meet the growing demand for beef in the Thai domestic market and neighboring countries in China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Thailand has an established beef cattle industry that includes a developed feedlot sector, and is well positioned to service regional export markets in countries such as Vietnam, China and Malaysia.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) figures, just over 1000 live cattle were exported from Australia to Thailand in the 12 months to the end of September 2017, with 800 of those being slaughter cattle and just over 200 being breeder cattle.
AusThai Capital aims to drastically increase that number, and hopes the recent tour will assist in boosting export numbers to Thailand to 40,000 head within the next five years.
The company is also working to increase grain exports to Thailand, and in conjunction with the WA Grains Group (WAGG), plans to export 200,000 tonnes of WA grain for feed to Thailand, with Wheatbelt-produced barley and lupins already being used at the company’s feedlots.
AusThai Capital chief executive officer Brendon Barnes said delegates who attended the tour were impressed by supply chain standards in WA, and had requested a feasibility study to further explore the potential for increased trade between the regions.
He said the trip gave delegates the opportunity to better understand the Australian cattle industry while building relationships with key stakeholders.
“They (delegates) effectively got a full end to end paddock to ship process in a short amount of time,” Mr Barnes said.
“They were effectively blown away with the hospitality they received by all of the people they met, especially farmers and the quality of the cattle in southern WA and the Northern Territory.
“The outcome is that the delegates all would like to purchase Australian cattle, they have instructed us (AusThai Capital) to do a grassroots practical study to supply cattle to Thailand – practically what it’s going to cost and what are all of the issues.
“It all depends upon finances but there’s now a firm commitment to make cattle trade possible to Thailand, it’s really a great start.”
Mr Barnes said the growing demand for beef in ASEAN countries presented the WA live export industry with a prime opportunity.
With the help of the State and Federal Government, Mr Barnes was hopeful Thailand would become a significant market for Australian live cattle.
“I think our advantage is that we’re close to the region and in the tropical land we’ve got the right cattle for their climate conditions,” Mr Barnes said.
“This is a long-term journey and I think that our style or our approach, our people have got the same sort of style as their people, they’re quite open and honest and fair and they really love the Australian farmers.”
Canberra’s Royal Thai Embassy first secretary (trade) Pawat Ruangvichatron joined the delegation for the tour of facilities in the Northern Territory.
Mr Ruangvichatron said increasing live cattle trade was a “win-win” situation for both Thailand and Australia that the Thai Embassy had been working towards over the past five years.
With a shrinking breeder cattle herd, the need for improved genetics and an increased demand for premium beef, Mr Ruangvichatron said Thailand presented an exciting market opportunity for Australia.
“We’re realising that we (Thailand) are low on stock and our people are consuming a lot more and we want to restock, but we want to restock on quality, and that’s why Australia is seen as the right partner,” Mr Ruangvichatron said.
“For Australians they should look at us as an emerging market, there’s a lot of potential.
“It would benefit both countries and for us it would perhaps assist us in getting better breeds and thus improving the quality of the cattle.”
Mr Ruangvichatron said although Thailand was building its breeding herd to compete for key Australian export markets, there was enough room for both countries to supply live cattle to China and ASEAN countries.
“We are thinking of border trades as well because although you send these cattle directly to our neighboring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and China, there is still a lot of ground to cover,” Mr Ruangvichatron said.
“I don’t think I see any conflicting issues in any way because yes, you (Australia) export directly a lot to China, but China is huge so whatever you export it will never cover the whole place so there are pieces for everyone.”
Mr Ruangvichatron said several areas of improvement were identified throughout the tour, including potential changes to quarantine procedures and policy.
“We identified a few things that we could look into and hopefully we could perhaps revisit the terms and try and streamline them in order to reduce costs,” Mr Ruangvichatron said.
“For example we learned that the quarantine procedure for us (Thailand) is 30 days so that’s obviously a cost.
“There are a few technical details that we could further explore which could significantly reduce costs which will assist the trade.”
Mr Ruangvichatron said he was hopeful the trade relationship between Australia and Thailand would strengthen, and the Thai Embassy would continue to promote the partnership.
