Northern WA's only major abattoir will undergo a $35 million expansion in a bid to boost its processing capacity by 60 per cent.
It comes just six months after Kimberley Meat Company (KMC) reopened the facility — about 100 kilometres east of Broome — after it was mothballed in 2020.
As part of the expansion, the KMC abattoir — owned by Yeeda Pastoral Company — will extend its boning room, cold storage capacity, yard size, and add a rendering plant to the facility.
It also plans to open a butcher shop in Broome.
The expansion will allow the facility to increase its annual throughput to 85,000 head of cattle with a daily processing increase from 250 to 400 animals within the next year.
KMC chief executive David Larkin said the development would also provide pastoralists with the option to sell feeder cattle to the facility, rather than just heavier slaughter cattle.
"There are a lot of good feeder cattle that are produced in the Kimberley and we think we can add value to those, increase our numbers and give the producers another option other than live export," he said.
Live exports slowed dramatically this year due to high Australian cattle prices and the spread of foot and mouth and lumpy skin diseases in the region's main market, Indonesia.
This year's total export volumes out of the Kimberley are expected to be about 30 per cent lower than in 2021 with about 99,000 head of cattle shipped from Broome and Wyndham ports.
Pastoralists welcome expansion
A local abattoir has long been championed by northern pastoralists who otherwise have to transport cattle thousands of kilometres to WA's south for processing.
Plans to boost its throughput have been met with similar positivity.
David Stoate, who runs Anna Plains station about 250km south of Broome, said it was welcome news.
"Producers in the north would love to see extra capacity and that basically means more marketing options for everyone up here," Mr Stoate said.
"It won't be easy for them. It's a fairly significant capital expansion.
"We can only hope that they can do it."
Investors confident
It has been a tumultuous ride for the abattoir in the years since its inception in 2016, with an 18-month closure and an unsuccessful attempt to restructure into a cooperative.
But KMC was confident the multi-million-dollar investment and a new approach would give the facility longevity.
"We are looking to expand the number of cattle that we produce and the categories of cattle that we produce and we think that will give us the fundamentals to invest that money," Mr Larkin said.
"That's part of our new strategy."
While other processors struggled with staffing shortages and subsequent throughput limitations, Mr Larkin said he was optimistic KMC would avoid similar pressures.
"We're very lucky we've got a very stable and committed workforce. I think our remote location actually works in our favour," he said.
