April 5, 2012

Australian beef shipments to Japan for March had declined by 21% on-year, to 25,028 tonnes due to high prices for manufacturing beef to the US, sluggish Japanese demand, along with competition from US beef imports into Japan.

Australian shipments to Japan in March declined across all categories - chilled, frozen, grass and grain - with the largest volume decline being the frozen grassfed group (down 16% to 10,479 tonnes).

Broken down by chemical lean (CL), Japan's intake of 65CL, 75CL, and 85CL beef during the month reduced to 2,396 tonnes (down 46% on-year), 1,406 tonnes (down 16%), and 2,117 tonnes (down 6%), respectively. In contrast, the same CL shipments to the US in March surged to 1,869 tonnes, an increase of 1,853 tonnes from only 16 tonnes in 2011, 1,354 tonnes, up 198% from last year, and 4,611 tonnes, up 170%, respectively.

In the imported beef market in Japan, 8,145 tonnes of US beef was custom cleared in February, up 24% from a year ago. Chilled beef imports from the US increased by 68% on-year to 4,900 tonnes, while the intake from Australia fell by 13%, to 9,407 tonnes.

Diminishing safety concerns among consumers and the soft USD against the Japanese yen have been assisting the US presence in Japan, despite the reportedly strong offer prices from the US to Japanese buyers.