March 17, 2008

Japan's beef consumption slow in January

Beef consumption in Japan was slow in January, declining 1 percent from the same month last year, the Agriculture and Livestock Industries Cooperation (ALIC) reported.

Beef distributed and consumed in Japan totalled 59,900 tonnes, down 335 tonnes from January 2007. There were no significant changes in pork and chicken consumption, which were 129,104 tonnes and 138,415 tonnes, respectively.

Imported beef stocks in January went down by 3 percent from last year to 62,335 tonnes. This is the lowest since December 2006.

The tight stock situation is expected to have continued in February, mainly due to reduced exports from Australia in January and February. Shipments were cut by 28 percent and 10 percent in those months, respectively.

Retail demand for Australian beef is 10.2kg/1,000 customers in January, and 8.8kg/1,000 customers in February, marking respective reductions of 1 and 7 percent from 2007.