$280 Steak in China Sees Australia's Richest Woman Expand Cattle

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart is boosting her cattle herd in the world’s third-biggest beef exporter to serve up more premium steak to discerning customers in China.

S. Kidman & Co., a unit of Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty, wants to increase its herd size by 25 percent to around 200,000 cattle within two to three years, according to board member Andrew Robb. The iconic Australian cattle company has stations covering an area almost the size of Austria, or 80,000 square kilometers (31,000 square miles) stretching across four states and territories. Kidman is establishing premium brands to distribute its grass-fed beef to overseas customers

“The big market opportunities are in China,” Robb, the former Australian trade minister who forged a free trade agreement with the Asian nation in 2015, said in an interview in Canberra. “Australia stands in a good position to cater for the premium end of that grass-fed market.”

Some premium steaks fetch as much as A$360 ($280) in China and Kidman wants to sell direct to high-end restaurants, he said. Kidman is increasing the carrying capacity of its stations, primarily by bringing more water to the herds. The properties had not been improved for some time, he said.

Australian beef exports to China are forecast to increase about 17 percent to 122,000 metric tons in the year ending June 30, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences. Shipments will reach 158,000 tons by 2022-23 supported by strong income growth and urbanization. China’s domestic beef production can’t keep up with consumption that’s expanded more than 30 percent over the past decade and pushed imports to a record.

Rinehart acquired Kidman in 2016 for A$386.5 million in partnership with Shanghai CRED Real Estate Stock Co., which holds about one third of the unit. Kidman was founded in 1899 by Sidney Kidman, Australia’s so-called Cattle King.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Keenan in Perth at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Phoebe Sedgman at psedgman2@bloomberg.net, Atul Prakash

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