Volumes of chilled sheepmeat exports, however, continued to drop, down 31 per cent to 2253 tonnes.
Sheepmeat exports to China saw a drop in both volume (21 per cent) and value (31 per cent) compared to the same period last year, but this was offset by increases in exports to other major sheepmeat markets.
That included the UK with volume up 14 per cent and value up 28 per cent to $40m, and the United States, where the volume increased by 12 per cent and the value by 63 per cent to $58m.
"This is a remarkable performance in the face of challenging supply chain issues impacting our exporters' abilities to get products to our global markets," chief executive of the Meat Industry Association, Sirma Karapeeva said.
It was also pleasing that grass-fed sustainable beef and lamb were clearly in demand across the globe, she said.
"Consumers are increasingly valuing our natural low-impact farming practices and our farmers deserve a lot of credit for this."
Total exports for the June 2021/2022 year were worth just under $11 billion, an increase in value of 20 per cent compared to the 2020/2021 period.
Sheepmeat value was up 12 per cent to $4.3 billion and beef by 28 per cent to $4.6 billion.
"This clearly shows the hard work of our meat processing and exporting companies, who are capturing as much value as they can for the New Zealand economy under really trying circumstances," Karapeeva said.
