UAE: Why Dubai is so attractive to beef and lamb

The removal of tariffs on Australian lamb and beef going to the United Arab Emirates under a new free trade deal will open lucrative doors that have been in the sights of exporters for some time. The UAE has been pinpointed as a valuable and fast-growing market for red meat. It has a large number of wealthy, discerning consumers who value the quality Australian livestock producers can supply. It is beef's 12th largest market by volume but it sits at fifth spot for chilled product and sixth for grainfed. For lamb, it is the third largest market and takes a big number of whole carcases and strong volumes of leg and shoulder cuts. Australia has a 68 per cent share of the UAE market for sheepmeat. In beef, Australia only has a 4pc share with Brazil and India the largest suppliers. Already, industry research and development investments have honed in on technical market access gains in the Middle East around extended shelf life and food safety, aimed at increasing the commercial ...