Processing
WA has 12 privately owned beef processing plants including five with accreditation for international export.
Only two plants currently have Chinese accreditation; however others are in the process of gaining Chinese accreditation.
The three largest processors with multiple export market accreditations are located in the South-West of WA.
In 2016/17, 374 000 cattle were slaughtered in WA abattoirs.
In the past, in excess of 500 000 cattle have been processed in one year.
In addition to the currently operating abattoirs, there are a number of plants that are not in operation.
These plants have the potential to be brought into service through purchase or new joint ventures. Land is also available to develop new greenfield site abattoirs.
A beef processing facility situated on Kilto Station in the west Kimberley is the only northern pastoral region beef abattoir in Western Australia. This commenced operation in September 2016. Livingstone Beef abattoir which is located 50km south of Darwin, also provides WA pastoralists with an alternative to live export, particularly for cull animals that do not meet market specifications.