With already robust demand so far in 2009, the additional cattle requirements for Ramadan pushed shipments to 87,732 head for the month, with total exports to all markets reaching 115,152 head – the second highest monthly volume on record.

While the sustained demand for Australian cattle from Indonesia has been very valuable for northern Australian cattle producers, concerns continue to surround the available supply of cattle, following the impact of the earlier flooding and drought across northern Australia during the past 18 months.

For the first nine-months of 2009, shipments to Indonesia were up 15pc year-on-year, at 544,637 head – only 100,000 head shy of last years’ record, with still a quarter of the year remaining.

Strong exports for September were also recorded to the Middle East (17,613 head), China (5,950 head), Malaysia (1,940 head) and Japan (1,505 head).