February 9, 2006

New Zealand doubles its share of beef market in Japan
 

New Zealand's share of the Japanese beef market has doubled since Japan banned US beef in late 2003, Meat and Wool NZ chairman Jeff Grant told a news conference.

Demand may fall in the next 12 months, but producers are pleased with what has been achieved so far, he said.

New Zealand boosted its beef export volumes by 16 percent, while earnings grew by 28 percent to US$332 million last year. It is now the second largest beef exporter to Japan, behind Australia.

Mr Grant expects a price drop when US beef is allowed back into Japan, but US exporters would likely face tough conditions imposed by Japanese regulators. The Japanese market will not change overnight as both Australia and New Zealand have put enormous efforts into holding market share, he said. 

New Zealand beef exports to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan went up 12 percent from 2003-2004. However, this was reduced to 4 percent from 2004-2005, partly because beef exports to Taiwan fell in dollar terms.

When Taiwan resumed American beef imports last year, prices went down by 30 percent in just 3 weeks, Grant said. However, New Zealand still holds a dominant 44 percent of the market, he said. Part of the downturn in Taiwan may have also been due to New Zealand shifting products to Japan, where there were higher prices.

South Korea remained the third largest beef market for New Zealand, importing  US$243 million worth of beef last year. However, consumer concerns about food safety have reduced beef consumption levels.