This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AMID a surge in demand for Australian beef exports, the country’s richest women, Gina Rinehart is putting a $300 million portfolio of cattle stations and livestock to the market, spanning 1.876 million hectares of land in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
The portfolio spans seven properties and accounts for nearly 20% the cattle landholdings owned by Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture in partnership with S. Kidman and Co.
The joint venture was formed between Hancock Prospecting and Chinese firm Shanghai CRED after their record acquisition in 2016 worth more than $386 million.
The offering includes more than 108,000 head of cattle.
NT properties include the neighbouring Aroona and Willeroo stations, spanning nearly 320,000 hectares, about 100 kilometres from the Katherine and with a carrying capacity of more than 33,000, and Riveren and Inverway stations, which cover 555,400 hectares combined and can hold 61,376 cattle, and also the smaller 3,443 hectare Phoenix Park, west of Katherine, which is a 20,000-head freehold feedlot.
More than one million hectares of land in WA is also up for grabs. Among that is the 203,143-hectare Nerrima Station in the West Kimberley region, and the adjoining Ruby Plains and Sturt Creek pastoral leaseholds, coming out of the S. Kidman and Co. portfolio, with almost 800,000 hectares of land.
Cattle producers are in a restocking phase after national levels of head of cattle fell to 24.6 million last year, its lowest total in more than 25 years.
Official government forecaster ABARES expects an 8% annual increase in agricultural production to $65.9 billion this year, with ongoing good conditions following a drought period and elevated meat prices.
The production value growth will be driven by sizable grain harvest exports, but the seasonal conditions have also allowed for more feed to go around. Meat & Livestock Australia is subsequently expecting a 2% increase this year to 25.2 million head.
Increasing demand from fast-growing Asian and Middle Eastern markets has driven Australian beef exports to an $10.8 billion each year and growing.
Hancock Agriculture is the second-largest Australian beef producer, behind only Australian Agricultural Company. A successful sale of the portfolio would leave it with cattle holdings in Queensland, New South Wales, the NT and South Australia.
