Jordan has replaced neighbouring Saudi Arabia as the top market for Australian live sheep after exports to Saudi were banned because of the Cormo Express "ship of shame" incident last year, figures released on Tuesday show.
Exports have been booming to Jordan, whose El Aqabah port is close to the border with Saudi Arabia on the Gulf of Aqaba, figures released by industry bodies LiveCorp and MLA showed.
Australian live sheep exports to Jordan in February jumped to 111,901 head, from none in February 2003.
Exports to Jordan in the first two months of calendar 2004 rose by 592 percent to 289,806 head, up from just 41,870 a year earlier.
The Australian government and industry banned live sheep exports to Saudi Arabia last August when the country rejected around 58,000 live sheep which it had purchased and allowed to be loaded in Australia. This caused the sheep to be stranded at sea for almost three months, before landing for slaughter in Eritrea.
Saudi Arabia was previously Australia's largest market for live sheep, buying 1.8 million head worth A$195 million ($150 million) in 2002.
The Australian government, so far unsuccessfully, has been pressing Saudi to sign a protocol agreeing to unload sheep which it purchases and allows to be loaded in Australia.
Saudi refused to accept sheep delivered on the Cormo Express last August on the ground that unacceptably high numbers were infected with scabby mouth disease. This was denied by the Australian government and trade after independent inspections.
Australian sheep exports to Kuwait are also rising, by 20.8 percent in the first two months of 2004 to 201,390 head in the first two months of 2004.
Australia's total exports of sheep rose by 10 percent in February to 325,915 head, while the total value of exports rose by seven percent to A$22 million in a quiet month after the busy Haj period in January, the groups said.
This contrasted with a sharp fall in exports of Australian live cattle in February, because of the high Australian dollar and tight supplies after the breaking of the country's drought, Tuesday's figures show.
Exports in February dropped by 52 percent to 29,193 head compared with the same month last year. Exports for the calendar year to the end of February were down 40 percent to 82,942.
Major markets of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were all affected, with strong competition from Indian buffalo also influencing demand for Australian cattle, LiveCorp and AMLC said.
February exports were valued at A$18 million, down by 53 percent on the same month last year, with reports suggesting the trade remained flat, the bodies said.