February 9, 2007

Australian beef demand high in Russia

Russia has become a strong market for Australian beef due to rising income levels.

The value of beef exports to Russia had almost quadrupled in the past year, reported the Australian government's trade commission Austrade in a statement.

Beef exports increased to 12,512 tonnes in calendar year 2006 from just 510 tonnes the year before, per figures from Meat & Livestock Australia.

Australian beef exports to Europe generally run at around 6,500 tonnes a year, worth around A$55 (US$42.9 million) million.

Australian beef sales to Russia have been partly boosted by bans on US imports because of mad cow disease, and on imports from Brazil, because of foot-and-mouth disease.

Though beef exports from the US could soon resume and Russia has also lifted bans on imports of beef from two Brazilian states, this is unlikely to affect the Australian market which has already established a good foothold, an MLA official told Reuters.

Incidentally, Australia is known for supplying high-quality marbled beef and manufacturing grade beef.

Demand has been high for Angus beef and marbled beef among wealthy Russians, said Austrade.

Australia is the world's largest beef exporter on a value basis, and the second largest on a volume basis, after Brazil.