SEVERAL Australian export beef processing facilities have been added to the approved list for export to China.

Queensland’s Nolan Meats and South Australia’s Thomas Foods International plant at Murray Bridge are now approved for China export.

Victoria’s Hardwicks Meat Works Pty Ltd is also on the GACC Chinese Government list, but Beef Central has been told by owner, Kilcoy Global Foods, that this refers to an associated cold storage facility – not the beef plant itself.

In the case of Murray Bridge, the approval reflects the fact that the recently constructed plant is on a different footprint from the plant burned down by fire in 2018, requiring a new assessment, Beef Central was told.

Several of the plants on the list underwent a Chinese technical inspection late last year.

The remaining Australian facilities on the list of eight are all cold storage/distribution facilities, not abattoirs.

Beef Central understands that a number of additional Australian plants already listed for frozen beef exports to China have now been upgraded to include chilled beef. Details have not yet been made public, but will be added here when they come to hand.

The Australian plants and cold storage facilities are among a list of 18 across the world approved for China export on 17 April, including five beef plants or cold storage facilities in New Zealand, plus five other species facilities in Spain, Russia, NZ and Peru.

The approvals come after China in January applied a 205,000 tonne quota on Australian beef exports for 2026, after which a 55 percent tariff will apply for the remainder of the year. Quotas were also imposed on other major exporters to China, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and New Zealand.

As of the end of March, Australia had filled 51.3pc of its 2026 quota, the highest percentage of any exporter country. Brazil had filled 46.3pc of its quota of 1.106mt by the same date; Argentina 27.5pc of its quota of 511,000t; Uruguay 14.7pc of its 324,000t quota; and New Zealand 14pc of its 206,000t allocation. In contrast the United States had filled just 0.3pc of its quota of 164,000t.

There has been no suggestion that China may re-allocate unused quota to other exporting nations later in the year.

Quality, not quantity

“While the rigid 205,000mt safeguard quota might make broader market expansion appear redundant on paper, the real impact of the new approvals lies in product mix rather than volume,” Expana’s Asia Pacific red meat analyst, Junie Lin told Beef Central.

“Australian exporters and Chinese buyers share the view that this is less about moving more beef, and more about moving higher-value product,” Ms Lin said.

“The key change is access to chilled and premium cuts that were previously restricted, allowing exporters to lift overall export value within the same volume cap,” she said.

Market participants say this is timely, with strong Australian production this year already stretching storage capacity.

The additional listings are expected to support warehousing flows, particularly as Chinese buyers look to secure bonded cargoes from late in the third quarter, ahead of the lifting of the annual quota from 1 January, Ms Lin said.