February 8, 2011

Russia's beef imports decline in 2010

Russian beef imports declined 2% on-year in 2010, to 625,830 tonnes swt - well under the 810,729 tonnes swt recorded in 2008.

The contraction in imports for the year was largely due to a sharp decrease in beef imports from Argentina, which fell 76% on the previous year, to only 33,458 tonnes swt. The decline in Argentinean shipments for 2010 was due to a significant contraction in beef production, with product also remaining in the Argentinean market, attracted by record high prices.

Russian imports from Brazil also declined for the past year, falling 13%, to 282,092 tonnes swt - with shipments impacted by increased volumes to the Middle East.

Taking advantage of lower shipments from the two main South American suppliers, imports from Australia during 2010 jumped 154% year-on-year, to 41,164 tonnes swt (Russian beef import figures differ from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's Australian export data due to transport delays and documentation variations).

Trade from the US jumped 613% for the year, to 22,292 tonnes swt, assisted by the weak US dollar. Similarly, imports from Paraguay rose 37%, to 64,089 tonnes swt, while shipments from Uruguay increased 19%, to 78,926 tonnes swt.