Indonesia

Industry Hopeful for U.S.- Indonesia Trade Deal to Expand Red Meat Markets

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 20:58:53 GMT

With the announcement of the U.S. and Indonesian framework for a trade agreement, more access for U.S. beef and pork could become a reality.

U.S. Meat Export Federation Vice President of Economic Analysis Erin Borror says the U.S. has had limited access to Indonesia. While tariffs are low at 5%, significant non-tariff trade barriers that have also been in place. These include import licensing regime, the commodity balance and facility registration, or plant-by-plant approvals for U.S. beef.

“Those kind of three pillars of market access barriers are how Indonesia has really managed imports for decades at this point,” Borror says.

Removing all non-tariff barriers would open the doors for beef demand in Indonesia.

“The opportunity there is $250 million annually,” Borror says. “That’s a short run estimate. If we remain out of that China market, having Indonesia compete on these short plates, short ribs, chuck short ribs, a number of the offal items, would be tremendous.”

In addition, U.S. pork faces similar trade barriers in Indonesia, a country with 30 million non-Muslims who have shown a growing demand for U.S. pork. Exporters and importers have seen that barrier in action so far this year.

“Trying to manage those pork imports through its variety of commodity balance and import licensing regimes, we’ve already had a doubling in our volumes to Indonesia on the pork side, albeit from a small base, but you see that strong growth,” Borror adds. “African Swine Fever remains rampant kind of in the region.”

She sees potential as Indonesian customers keep asking for more U.S. pork.

Extreme Growth Potential with Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for U.S. Red Meat Exports

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 19:43:20 GMT

Trade talks with key trading partners on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are gearing up, and U.S. Meat Export Federation’s assistant vice president of export services Travis Arp has more details on how this might impact U.S. red meat exports.

“Looking at issues like science-based trade, good regulatory practices and transparency with regulations and things that can really open more opportunities for U.S. exporters in a multiple group of sectors,” Arp says will be on the agenda.

Submitting comments on the ‘resilient trade pillar’ of the framework, USMEF explains the economic impacts of the region’s trades.

“In 2021, Japan and South Korea were the largest volume and value markets for U.S. beef, importing a total of 320,737 and 280,143 metric tons (MT) of U.S. beef, respectively; valued at $2.376 billion and $2.382 billion, respectively,” the comments explained. “2021 U.S. pork exports to Japan and Korea were valued at $1.693 billion and $556 million, respectively, making Japan and Korea the second and fifth largest value markets for U.S. pork.”

USMEF’s comments explained that the value of U.S. beef exports to the region increased by 22% from 2020 to 2021, with a 65% in Indonesia alone. Meanwhile, U.S. pork export values increased by 26%, with a 78% increase in the Philippines alone. These statistics show extreme growth when considering the U.S. market share in these areas are relatively low.

As the economic framework is still under construction, Arp believes the goal is to strengthen trade relations with allies in Asia, seeing the region as an opportunity to improve market access and open these markets to U.S. exporters.

“There’s an opportunity to address some of these systemic barriers to trade,” Arp says. “Gaining more beef access into markets, like Korea, and creating more opportunities for plants to get approved in markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, then this could potentially pose a significant boost to red meat exports in the future.”

Other framework details include promoting science-based trade rules, establishing regionalization agreements in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak, such as African swine fever , and tariffs, quotas and import licenses.

Read USMEF’s full comment detail here .

Buffalo Stampede Threatens World's Biggest Live Cattle Trade

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:47:37 GMT

Indonesians’ growing appetite for red meat needed to make rendang curries and to flavor noodle soups is putting the world’s biggest seaborne cattle trade at risk.

For the first time, Indian frozen buffalo meat is legally available in the world’s fourth-most populous nation. The sales, which started last month, are already causing anxiety on the sprawling Australian ranches that supply Indonesia with more than half a million live cattle a year.

The threat to Australia’s market share “is very real and we’d be foolish to think otherwise,” Tracey Hayes, chief executive of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, said from Darwin, where the bulk of Australia’s live cattle exports are shipped to Indonesia. Indian buffalo “is a much cheaper product,” she said.

Australia relies on Indonesia to buy more than half its live cattle exports -- earning A$549 million ($417 million) from the live trade last year. Australia has sought to repair its reputation as a reliable supplier after abruptly banning live shipments in 2011 due to allegations of cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs.

Indian buffalo meat sells for as little as the state-food agency set price of 65,000 rupiah ($5) a kilogram in so-called wet markets in Jakarta, compared with about 115,000 rupiah a kilogram for beef from Australia in more upscale farmers’ markets. It’s becoming increasingly popular in Asia, and India is now a major supplier to Vietnam and Malaysia -- two countries that are also significant buyers of Australian live cattle.

The live cattle trade has at times been a flash point in Australia-Indonesia relations, which have also been strained by a spying scandal and the execution of convicted Australian drug smugglers. President Joko Widodo visits Australia in November, with a potential free-trade deal up for negotiation.

To watch a video, click here

Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said in an August interview that he was aiming to complete a free-trade agreement with Indonesia within 18 months.

Faced with meat shortages due to greater demand from a burgeoning middle class, Indonesia lifted a ban on Indian buffalo meat this year, with 10,000 tons arriving til the end of September. Selling at as much as 40 percent less than Australian produce, the meat is finding a ready market in the nation where the World Bank estimates about 100 million people live near the poverty line income of 4 million rupiah a year.

“It’s cheaper than beef and tastier,” said Elis, who was weekend shopping at an upscale market west of Jakarta for her family of five. “I can make stew or soup from the buffalo meat.”

Bonang Rahmat, who works for wholesaler PT Anzindo Gratia International, said poorer customers certainly prefer buffalo. “In Bumi Serpong Damai market, we sell about 70 kilograms of buffalo meat a day and about 200 kilograms of beef when we open during the weekend,” he said in an interview. “The buyers are mostly catering companies and beef soup vendors.”

Market Dominance

Australia has traditionally dominated the red meat market in Indonesia, accounting for 80 percent of the nation’s imports in 2015, according to Australia’s Meat and Livestock Association. It’s virtually the only provider of imported live cattle for the wet markets, where most Indonesians shop for fresh produce. There were 618,323 head of cattle shipped from Australia to Indonesia in 2015, according to the MLA, making it the largest seaborne trade.

The U.S. is the world’s biggest cattle importer according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with imports of almost 2 million head in 2015, though its imports are mostly trucked across from Mexico and Canada.

Indonesian suppliers may have been encouraged to look elsewhere for red meat due to record prices for cattle in Australia, said Belinda Moore, a senior analyst at Morgans Financial Ltd. in Brisbane.

“As the herd rebuilds over the next couple of years we would expect prices to come off these record levels,” said Moore.

India buffalo meat exports have surged in recent years amid a growing dairy industry in the nation. Buffaloes aren’t sacred in the Hindu religion and their milk has more fat than cow milk. Most states in India ban cattle slaughter and exports of cow meat.

Bonang says wealthier customers in Indonesia are sticking with beef -- for now.

“Middle to upper household customers who know good quality beef like Australian beef, so they prefer to buy beef over buffalo meat,” Bonang said.

Indonesia Cuts Live Cattle Import Quota in Blow to Australia

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:44:11 GMT

Australia’s live cattle shipments to Indonesia are set to plunge this quarter after the biggest buyer cut its import quota by 80 percent to rely more on domestic supply.

Indonesia will import 50,000 head in the third quarter, Partogi Pangaribuan, director general of foreign trade at the Trade Ministry said on Monday. That’s down from 250,000 in the previous three months.

The country is Australia’s top live cattle market, buying 56 percent of exports last year. The government has pledged to reduce reliance on food imports, with President Joko Widodo seeking to promote home-grown commodities and industries. The quota may be increased if domestic supply isn’t enough, Pangaribuan said in Jakarta. Australia is already looking for alternative markets, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said.

“We were surprised and disappointed at the figure, it wasn’t what we expected,” Alison Penfold, Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council, said by phone from Canberra. “It presents some challenges.”

Australia’s live cattle exports to Indonesia surged 61 percent to 728,404 head in 2014 from a year earlier, according to industry group Meat & Livestock Australia. The combined value of beef, offal and live cattle exports to Indonesia was A$883 million ($656 million) in 2014, data on the group’s website show.

Volatile Market

“It’s something I hope we can rectify soon,” Joyce said. “It is a volatile market and that’s why I think it’s so much better that we work toward an annual quota.”

In 2011, Australia banned live cattle exports to Indonesia for a month after television footage showed animals being mistreated. The suspension was lifted amid stricter conditions requiring tracking and auditing.

The total value of the nation’s live cattle exports was A$249 million in the first three months of 2015, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s up 32 percent from the same period in 2014.