Japan's Beef Imports Decline In August
JAPAN - Japan’s beef imports during August dropped by 15 per cent from a year ago to 38,864 tonnes swt, largely due to a significant decline in frozen beef imports from Australia.
30 September 2009
1 minute read
According to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance, Japan imported 27,246 tonnes of Australian beef in August, down 21 per cent year-on-year. The fall mostly came from frozen beef, plummeting 33 per cent from August 2008 (and 11 per cent lower than the five-year average) to 14,227 tonnes. The volume of Australian chilled beef also fell, by 2 per cent to 13,019 tonnes.
Weak performance of the Japanese foodservice sector appeared to have impacted demand for Australian frozen beef, combined with the trade’s cautious buying amid the country’s tight economy.
Supplies from the US maintained strong growth in August, adding 26 per cent on last’s year volume to 8,109 tonnes (58 per cent of the pre-BSE volume in August 2003). In the calendar year to August, beef imports from the US totalled 43,312 tonnes, up 28 per cent on last year, but still 25 per cent of the volumes imported from the US during the same period in 2003.
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