Australian beef is in high demand in Russia as exports lifted to 13,073 tonnes (shipped weight) during the first four months of the year, almost 30 times higher than shipments from January to April during 2007.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia's Meat and Livestock Weekly, Australian beef exports to Russia comprised five per cent of the country's total exports from January to April, compared to a mere one per cent during the same time last year.
This made Russia Australia's fourth largest beef market for the period, behind Japan, the US and Korea.
MLA reported a surge in frozen product formed the main thrust of the exports, which comprised 97.5pc of total shipments to Russia during the January to April period.
Itoham Sydney sales manager, John Conway, said while the higher volumes of Russian exports looked set to continue into the forseeable future, demand had abated slightly in the past couple of weeks.
"I would say Russia has fulfilled its immediate requirements, and is now taking stock of where to go next," Mr Conway said.
"We've sent a lot of trimmings to the country, and some of the lower priced prime cuts - it's mostly targeting the supermarkets."
Mr Conway said Russian buyers were not being choosy, and accepting all beef regardless of cattle specifications.
Chief executive officer of meat exporter, Sanger Australia, Richard Rains, Sydney, said since late March in particular, exports to Russia had rocketed.
Mr Rains attributed the increased Russian demand to several abnormal situations in South America.
As well as Brazil's recent exclusion from exporting to the EU, Mr Rains said Uruguay's attempted filling of that gap, and troubles in Argentina between the government and farmers, had left Russia looking elsewhere to feed its rising demand.
Due to the large area and wealthy population of the country, Mr Rains said Russians were becoming hungrier for beef.
Mr Rains said the great amount of exports were going to Russian supermarkets rather than the higher end of the market, such as restaurants.
"Australia always supplied a bit of the better beef to the more exclusive Russian markets anyway, and that's remained fairly steady," he said.
"What's gone up is demand for frozen meat including round cuts, trimming, burger meat - they're buying the lot."
Mr Rains also said the rates the Russians were paying were not only decent in their own right, but had also forced other buyers such as Japan and the US to raise prices.