Western Australia's agriculture minister hopes a livestock exporter that has had its licence suspended will choose to sell 60,000 stranded sheep to meat processors.
The animals were due to be taken to the Middle East but the Department of Agriculture suspended Emanuel Exports' licence on Friday.
The company was behind the disastrous Awassi Express shipment, on which thousands of sheep died of heat stress.
West Australian Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan says abattoir Fletcher International has offered to buy and process the sheep domestically for export markets, and was working with other meat processors to take more sheep in the supply chain in coming months.
But Emanuel is instead seeking to use a company that has a current export licence and is "closely aligned ... in terms of management and possibly ownership", despite it now being summer in the Middle East when the risk of mortality is highest, Ms MacTiernan said.
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"We do hope Emanuel will work constructively with those processors to make sure that the animals are not left in an unmanageable situation," she told reporters on Monday.
WAFarmers President Tony York said farmers were pleased with her announcement.
"This at least offers one possible solution for sheep in the feedlots," Mr York told AAP on Monday.
"It's really really good."
