When the deal to purchase the former Australia Meat Holdings assets was struck last July, Australia was dangerously dependent on just three key export markets – Japan Korea and the US.

To a large extent, Brazilian-owned Swift has delivered on a series of commitments it made during its entry to the Australian industry last year, designed to expand the company’s export market base, lift plant efficiency and build emphasis on brands.

Swift Australia chief executive Iain Mars told an audience of beef industry stakeholders during last week's Royal Brisbane Show that more than $50 million had been spent on plant upgrades this year, alone.

“That investment has been about doing more with what we have, and increasing efficiencies, rather than simply lifting capacity,” Mr Mars said.

“For example, we’ve increased meat yields across our Australian business by 2pc in the past year.

"That basically delivers an additional 200 tonnes of product each week, that was previously lost.”

That result had been delivered through attention to detail and some restructuring in boning room operations, as well as the opportunities emerging through expansion into new markets. However, there was still some way to go.

Meat yields in the parent company’s Brazilian plants, for example, are probably still 1-3pc better than they were in Australia.

Mr Mars also highlighted dramatic changes in destination for beef exports out of Australia in 2008.

“Our markets have changed so fast, and they will change again,” he said.

“A lot of the older conventions about the best markets for Australian beef are gone.

" The market today is dynamic, and we have to be very agile in everything that we do to keep up.”

While the reasons for Australia’s recent heavy dependence on the key export markets of Japan, Korea and the US were well known, the tide had now turned, Mr Mars said.

Swift, through its trading offices around the world, had had considerable success in seeking out opportunities elsewhere.

Brazil had emerged as a substantial and lucrative market for highly prized rump caps, for example, and consumers there were now asking specifically for Australian beef.

Chile was another exciting prospect to emerge, with more than 4000 tonnes representing a range of chilled beef cuts export by Swift so far this year, since the establishment of an importation office.

Most was being sold into the major Jumbo supermarket chain, which had got right behind Australian beef with billboards, posters and promotional work.

Russia had also emerged as an important and growing market. While Brazil had previously sent 40pc of its exports to Russia, higher livestock prices in Brazil had lifted Australia’s competitiveness in this market.

Swift had set up a modern large scale cold storage and distribution centre in Moscow, supplying high quality beef to the increasingly affluent Russian consumers.

Because of the demand for frozen product in Russia, Swift Australia had spent considerable amounts on plate freezing infrastructure in the past year to build capacity.

New opportunities had also emerged in the EU, where Mr Mars said Australia needed to look also outside traditional EU Hilton quota segment to areas it had previously ignored.

Options included the ITQ market (beef for use in cooked food items) and paying full quota on other items.

“If we had been more heavily reliant on the Japanese market over the past eight to 10 months, it would have been incredibly difficult for our business and that would have been reflected in cattle prices,” he said.

* For more details on Swift’s plans, see Queensland Country Life's Markets Xtra, August 28.