Think you know where the beef you produce ends up? Meat and Livestock Australia says the latest list showing where Australian beef cuts are eaten provides a few surprising answers.

Australian beef ended up in some unlikely places in 2011, from the steppes of Kazakhstan to the cities of South Korea. The diversity of these export markets is industry’s best insurance against volatility in global economics and trade.

In 2011, Australia produced more than 2.13 million tonnes of beef – around two thirds of it destined for 105 countries around the globe. The remaining third – approximately 720,000 tonnes cwt – was consumed at home in Australia.

Our top three export destinations (by both value and weight) will come as no surprise.

More than one third of Australian beef exported was headed to Japan – a market worth approximately $1.66 billion over 2011.

Korea (with 146,347 tonnes swt valued at $773 million) and the United States (167,820 tonnes swt at $744 million) were the second and third biggest export markets.

However, some of the smaller markets may surprise. For instance, our fifth largest export destination by value was Taiwan which brought in 36,748 tonnes swt of Australian beef worth $196 million.

Our seventh largest destination was directly across the Pacific to Chile – one of the recent economic successes of Latin America – which imported 14,639 tonnes swt of Australian beef worth $81 million.

China was our 12th largest destination by value with more than $59 million worth exported there – more than to the United Kingdom, Canada or New Zealand.

Further down the list are more surprises with Papua New Guinea ($21 million) our 20th largest in dollar terms, Mauritius ($7 million) our 34th largest and Kazakhstan ($2.9 million) our 40th largest export destinations.

Next week, we will look at the demand for various cuts in these different export destinations.

Top 10 destinations for Australian beef (by value)

1. Australia
2. Japan – $1.66 billion
3. Korea – $773 million
4. United States – $744 million
5. Russia – $230 million
6. Taiwan – $196 million
7. Indonesia – $171 million
8. Chile – $81 million
9. Hong Kong – $71 million
10. Singapore – $70 million

Top 10 destinations for Australian beef (by weight)

1. Australia
2. Japan – 342,188 tonnes swt
3. United States – 167,820 tonnes swt
4. Korea – 146,347 tonnes swt
5. Russia – 54,088 tonnes swt
6. Indonesia – 39,590 tonnes swt
7. Taiwan – 36,748 tonnes swt
8. The Philippines – 20,988 tonnes swt
9. Chile – 14,639 tonnes swt
10. Malaysia – 14,436 tonnes swt

Source: Meat and Livestock Australia