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Chinese, international demand boosts Australia's agriculture sector: statistics

Xinhua, March 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

A strong international demand for Australian meat, livestock and grain has resulted in a sharp jump in Australia's agricultural production, new figures revealed on Wednesday.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia's farming production increased by 5.4 percent in 2014-15, raising the value of Australia's agricultural sector to more than 41 billion U.S dollars.

Lauren Binns, director of the Rural Environment and Agriculture Statistics at the ABS, said the increased value of livestock and agriculture was thanks in-part to a strong international demand for Australian products

"The growth in the value of Australia's agricultural production was largely driven by an increase in the gross value of livestock disposals and products," Binns said.

"Strong international demand for livestock and meat products has seen prices rise through 2014-15 in both the domestic and export markets. Higher prices for cattle and sheep in particular have seen the value of Australia's livestock disposals and products increase 18 percent to 20 billion U.S dollars."

Late last year, Australia signed an historic free trade agreement with China (ChAFTA), and Binns said there was already a noticeable increase in Chinese demand for Australian livestock and meats as well as grains such as sorghum.

"Australian sorghum production increased 72 percent in the 2014-15 harvest with an increase in the area planted and good yields following some above average rainfalls later in the season," Binns said.

"This increase in production has carried through to a 73 percent increase in the estimated value of sorghum as prices remain high with increased exports to China, which is now Australia's largest export market for grain sorghum." Endit