Northern feeder steer prices ex Darwin have eased in recent weeks as supply builds with dry season mustering programs now underway.

First round musters in the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland have been about a month later than usual due to wet conditions, with many stations just getting going now rather than at the end of March.

After climbing to 370c/kg briefly in March, prices for feeder steers were back to 350c/kg liveweight this week with some exporters telling Beef Central current pricing is now closer to 340c/kg.

Export industry sources have reported that beef sales in Indonesia through and after the Ramadan period were good, but also note the offsetting impact on the trade of a much lower Indonesian Rupiah, now back to its weakest level since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

An increase in supply with the commencement of first round musters across the north has seen a slight softening of prices recently, but against that, there are also reports of increasing competition for cattle in northwest Queensland from channel country restockers and southern back grounders, which is keeping some upward pressure on prices.

Meat processors from southern WA are also reported to be active in the Kimberly, while South Australian, Victoria and Queensland meat processors are very active in Northern Territory, currently operating up to and north of Katherine.

Australia has exported 133,511 cattle in total for the first three months of the year, which is 8 percent below the rolling five-year average.

But bucking the trend has been Indonesia, with exports of 89,739 cattle in the first three months, 11 percent above the five-year average of 80,614.

Exporters are reporting some challenges with price and margins into Vietnam, but the trade is still operating.

Exports to Vietnam from January to March totalled 17,410, below the five year-average of 19,198 head.

Trade in the first three months also included 10,923 head to China, and the first shipment of Australian cattle to Mexico since 2016 – a consignment of 3000 dairy heifers shipped by Southern Australian International Livestock Services in March.

Just like other markets the Governments of both Indonesia and Vietnam are focused on the highly unpredictable US tariff situation, with importers and exporters also monitoring the situation closely, but so far the recent disruptions to long-standing tariff arrangements have not affected Australia’s cattle trade to either market.