Well, yes, they have made the announcement, with some restrictions.
Boxed beef must be flown in to Jakarta, Bali or Medan - not shipped, but it appears that there will be no restrictions on the amounts of higher quality beef cuts that can be brought in this way. No mention of other beef cuts though. And the third quarter live cattle numbers have been brought forward to the month of June.
This might seem a good start, but industry players are being very cautious.
Some say the issues with boxed beef involve organisation and access to the volumes needed [which I mentioned yesterday], and right now, a lack of clarity about the operation of the process. This latter issue may well improve over the next few weeks.
The live cattle trade will be harder to organise and supply, as mobilising the required vessels and cattle will be much more difficult. It also seems to ignore the fact that once shipped and after arrival in Indonesia, the animals will need to grow to a reasonable size before slaughter. Peak demand period is for post Ramadan Idul Fitri holidays, with day 1 on 8 August, and the Public Holiday on Friday the 9th. National Day is 17 August. It will be difficult to get animals shipped and grown before then.
In reality, 30 -45 days growth in feedlots in Indonesia is a realistic consideration. Some will remain longer, obviously, but the beef gap is now, and will be ongoing until numbers build up again, if that is possible. Will they remove the current live weight maximum of 350kg or even increase it a little?
Nothing has been indicated by Indonesian authorities so far about ongoing live cattle exports in the latter part of the year.
Yes, there is some cautious optimism, but this is but a very small step forward.
More information is expected over the next few days and weeks.
Some news articles are around as well - see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-28/indonesia-to-increase-live-cattle-imports/4716384 and here
http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/news/agriculture/livestock/cattle-beef/indonesia-increases-australian-beef-imports/2659173.aspx?storypage=0
Both articles are very short of any detail.
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