It has been a tough 12 months for WA sheep and wool producers on a number of fronts.
Dry seasonal conditions, combined with low returns for both sheep and wool and an inability to move excess stock, has significantly reduced industry confidence.
This confidence was further dented this month when the Federal Labor government finally announced after 12 months of uncertainty, that it would end the live export of sheep by sea by May 1, 2028.
However, while there hasn't been much for producers to smile about, there still has been some small glimmers of light when it comes to the global demand for Australian and WA sheepmeat products.
In 2023, exports of both Australian lamb and mutton were the highest ever, at 326,014 tonnes and 209,580t respectively.
At these record levels Australia accounted for more than 50 per cent of global sheepmeat exports in 2023 for the first time.
This global appetite for Australian lamb and mutton has continued in the first four months of this year.
For the month of April, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) global supply analyst Tim Jackson said lamb exports rose 41 per cent from April last year to 31,318t, while mutton exports rose 20pc to 18,913t.
"This is the largest April export figure for lamb, mutton and overall sheepmeat exports on record, following very strong export totals in February and March," Mr Jackson said.
"The United States remained the largest market for Australian lamb exports, while mutton exports to the Middle East and North Africa region lifted 144pc from last year to 5853t, displacing China as our biggest mutton market for the month.
When it comes to WA, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) reported in April that in 2023,WA exported a record total of 103,500t carcase equivalent (CEQ) of sheepmeat.
This was up 36pc on 2022 volumes and was driven by an increase in both mutton and lamb exports.
Mutton exports increased from 32,900t CEQ to 54,100t CEQ, while lamb exports increased from 43,300t CEQ to 49,400t CEQ, both were the highest on record.
WA biggest market for sheepmeat in 2023 was again China.
DPIRD said over the past decade the growth of the Chinese market for WA (and Australian) sheepmeat in both value and quantity terms had been tremendous.
Last year China accounted for 50,100t CEQ of sheepmeat, or 48pc of the quantity of sheepmeat exported.
WA's second largest market in 2023 was the UAE with 7300t CEQ and the USA came in third with 6200t CEQ.
But it wasn't only the volume of WA sheepmeat exports which lifted in 2023 so did their value.
In its release in April DPIRD said the value of both WA lamb and mutton exports have increased steadily over the past decade and reached a combined total of $628.8m in 2023, the highest on record, up marginally on the $627.7m exported in 2022.
It said between 2010 and 2023, the value of WA mutton exports have increased 157pc, from $94.7m to $243.5m with a high of $259.2m reached in 2019.
Year-on-year mutton exports increased 23pc between 2022 and 2023 and this was largely due to the very high volumes exported rather than strong prices.
When it comes to the value of WA lamb exports, they have also followed a positive trajectory, increasing from $128.2m in 2010 to $430.5m in 2022, the highest on record, before declining to $385.3m in 2023.
China wasn't only WA's biggest market by volume in 2023, it was also the largest by value by a substantial amount.
In 2023, sheepmeat exports to China were worth $249.0m, which was up from $199.5m in 2022.
The value of exports to China accounted for 40pc of the total value of WA sheepmeat exports.
China was followed by the USA with $62.3m and the UAE with $56.9m.
It wasn't only sheepmeat exports from WA which lifted in 2023, so did live sheep exports.
In 2023 live sheep exports from WA totalled 670,900 head, which was a 29pc increase compared to 2022.
The largest market by both quantity and value for live sheep exports was Kuwait in 2023.
Last year WA exported 293,300 sheep to Kuwait (up 8pc YOY) and this accounted for 44pc of the total numbers exported.
When it comes to the wool side of the game, wool exports from 2017 to 2020, from both Australia and WA declined, but then increased in 2021 and 2022 before falling slightly in 2023.
In 2017, WA wool exports totalled 63.9mkg (greasy) but this fell to 47.8mkg in 2020 (a fall of 25pc).
Over the same period national wool exports fell by 28pc, from 358mkg in 2017 to 256.1mkg in 2020.
This decline was due to a drop in demand and reduced production levels due to dry seasons and it was compounded further by the outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020.
In 2021 WA experienced a relatively swift recovery in terms of the volume of wool exports with the total reaching 63.9mkg before rising again in 2022 to 67.0mkg, the highest figure since 2010.
Last year WA wool exports declined slightly to 66.7m kg.
In dollar terms, wool exports have been on an upward trend for the past decade and peaked at $3.9b nationally and $699.6m in WA in 2018, which was the highest seen since at least the mid-1990s.
Following the high of 2018 the value of wool exports declined to $438.7m in 2020 in line with lower volumes of wool being exported, as well as weak prices due to lack of demand during the COVID-19 outbreak.
However since 2020 the value of wool exports has rebounded, in 2022 it finished at $696.5m as both the price and the volume exported recovered to a degree, while in 2023 wool exports from WA were valued at $649.8m.
