Christmas is coming for food exporters, but it will be another year before they get to open the presents, according to Rabobank senior analyst Wendy Voss. Ms Voss was particularly optimistic about sheep meat, but said the long touted pick-up in demand for all red meat was real, even though consumer sentiment in NZ's key markets was expected to remain subdued until the middle of next year reports The ODT. "There's always a chance things may improve before then, but realistically demand won't pick up until economic growth improves and unemployment rates begin to ease in key markets such as the United States and Japan." Before the financial crisis, meat prices were rising due to tightening supply resulting from liquidated flocks and herds and a lack of profitability for several years prior. The sheep meat sector should enjoy exceptional growth leading to improved prices, because it was such a specialised industry and the workload meant farmers were less likely to convert to sheep farming. While China was a looming sheepmeat export destination, Ms Voss said the country with the world's largest sheep flock was also under pressure from high input costs, small farms, poor productivity and no Government support. This was occurring as the Chinese population became more affluent, wanted sheep meat and as a result could require greater import volumes.
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