10 December 2010

1 minute read

Oceania

The increase was largely due to a surge in frozen beef shipments - the second highest monthly volume on record at 21,475 tonnes (57 per cent higher than a year ago) according to analysts at Meat and Livestock Australia.

With wet weather expected to hamper cattle supplies and beef production during December and January, Japanese buyers seemed to have focused on securing high demand trimming items, such as 65CL (up 132 per cent year-on-year to 3,380 tonnes), 75CL (up 81 per cent to 1,946 tonnes), and 85CL (up 34 per cent to 3,696 tonnes).

Even shipments of 90CL, usually less popular among Japanese buyers compared to 75CL or 85CL, grew by 218 per cent on the same period last year, to 1,541 tonnes.

In the meantime, chilled beef exports were firm at 14,575 tonnes, up four per cent on last year.

Chilled grass shipments increased by 50 per cent compared with the particularly low volume in November 2009, to 4,977 tonnes.

Chilled grainfed was the only category that declined year-on-year, totalling 9,598 tonnes (down 10 per cent from 2009, but up 25 per cent from the previous month)

Australian beef exports to Japan during January to November 2010 totalled 327,040 tonnes, only 698 tonnes below the same period in 2009.

TheCattleSite News Desk