Australian Beef Exports to Japan Fall Back
AUSTRALIA - Australian beef and veal exports to Japan in 2009 reached 356,567 tonnes, just two per cent below the previous year, despite the roller-coaster Australian dollar, Japan’s economic turmoil and deepening deflation concerns in the market (Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
6 January 2010
1 minute read
Australia shipped a total of 28,829 tonnes of beef to Japan during December, nine per cent below the previous year's figure.
A significant improvement in 2009 was recorded for Australian chilled grainfed beef exports, which increased by 10 per cent from the previous year, to 113,711 tonnes according to Meat and Livestock Australia.
However, MLA said that this was still 10 per cent below the average for the previous five-years, which was boosted by a surge in shipments in 2005 and 2006.
The fall in feed grain costs and firm sales at the Japanese retail sector were major contributors to the increase in Australian grainfed beef shipments.
In contrast, MLA said that frozen grassfed shipments declined by seven per cent for the past calendar year, to 146,162 tonnes, but were two per cent above the five-year average.
Increased stocks in the market, following higher late 2008 shipments resulted in slower export demand during the first half of 2009, in addition to the subdued performance of the foodservice and processing sectors throughout 2009.
For the 2009 calendar year, grassfed beef made up by 56 per cent of total Australian beef exports, at 201,379 tonne, with grainfed shipments reaching 155,187 tonnes.
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