Australian cattle exports for the calendar year to September are 24 percent higher than the same period last year, according to latest monthly export data from the Department of Agriculture.

Trade data shows 52,077 cattle were exported from Australia during September.

Cattle exports for the year to September total 556,611 head.

That compares with 474,132 head exported between January and September last year.

Exports to Indonesia in September totalled 31,099, which is 2pc above the five-year average for the month.

September was a quieter month in general for exports to Indonesia with many feedlots at full capacity and demand quieter following the busy religious holiday periods of Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha.

However demand is expected to increase in the final three months of the year in preparation for next year’s Lebaran period in March and April 2025.

An estimated 60,000 cattle are on floodplains in the Northern Territory in preparation for the November to December wet-season shipping period.

September shipments to Vietnam totalled 10,760 head, 4pc above the rolling five-year average for the month, with shipments from Darwin, Broome and Fremantle.

Exports to Vietnam for the year to date reached 101,590 in September which compares with 89,595 exported for the same nine-month period last year.

Export volumes for September also included 3636 cattle to Sabah, 3441 head to Philippines, 2909 to Jordan and 222 to Malaysia.

The price for export feeder steers being loaded in Darwin is averaging $3.25/kg liveweight, trade sources have told Beef Central this week.