Indonesia has increased its annual 2025 cattle import quota by 184,000 head, adding to the 350,000 head allocation released at the start of the year.

Live export cattle yarded at Berrimah in the NT. Picture: NTLEA

But it has also cut its 2025 import quotas for both frozen boxed beef and Indian Buffalo Meat, to minimise impacts on local farmers.

The Indonesian Government reviews annual import permit allocations for several strategic food items such as frozen beef, feeder cattle, rice, corn and salt  every quarter, and adjusts quotas up or down depending on supply and demand.

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said the Indonesian Government had decided to increase the quota for live feeder cattle, telling media that fattening cattle has a wide economic impact because it involves many parties domestically.

Conversely, importing frozen meat did not provide added economic value because it is directly consumed without any further domestic production process, he said

“Live cattle are for fattening,” he said, accorfing to Indonesian media.

“There are two choices, if we choose fattening cattle then the import of frozen beef must be controlled, otherwise the fattening farmers will go bankrupt,” he stressed.

He said not all commodities were going as per the previous plan, citing the example of buffalo meat imports.

The Ministry of Agriculture had initially approved an annual import quota of 200 thousand tonnes, but until now, the realization has been minimal.

As a result, the quota has been cut in half to just 100 thousand tonnes, he said.

The health of Indonesian economy is ultimately a key factor which determines how many cattle Australia exports to Indonesia each year.

Indonesia’s economy grew by 4.87pc in the first quarter of 2025, slightly short of the Government’s 5.2% target. Despite the slowdown, attributed to weakened household consumption and reduced public spending, Indonesia’s economic outlook for the rest of 2025 is described as cautiously optimistic.

Another factor driving demand for cattle imports from Indonesia has been the need to fill the gap of domestic cattle numbers lost through foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease outbreaks.

Australia has exported 155,400 cattle to Indonesia in the first four months of 2025, slightly above the rolling five year average for the January to April period of 123,838.

Annual Australian cattle exports to Indonesia have averaged 420,000 head in the past five years.

The combined value of Australian live cattle and boxed beef exports to Indonesia amounted to close to $900 million in overall value in 2024.

Last week 40 Australian delegates joined more than 300 Indonesian cattle industry stakeholders at the annual LEP (Live Export Program) Expo in Jakarta this week.

At the same time Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also visited President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.

Agriculture or the cattle trade were not discussed specifically, according to transcripts and records of the visit published on Mr Albanese’s website.

Rather discussions focused on new joint financing arrangements, support for digital transformation, efforts to connect Australian tech firms with Indonesian entrepreneurs, joint initiatives in the health sector, infectious disease preparedness, support for Indonesia’s Nutritious Meals Program in remote regions, and collaboration on green infrastructure, electric vehicles and critical mineral supply chains, alongside maritime security, education scholarships, and the launch of the first Indonesian bank office in Australia.