April 7, 2008

Japan beef imports up 7 percent
 

Japan's beef imports totalled 32,567 tonnes swt in February, up 7 percent from the same month last year.

Shipments from Australia stayed the same as last year's at 25,937 tonnes while US shipments went up 64 percent, to 2,696 tonnes.

New Zealand brought in 3,015 tonnes swt of beef, increasing 20 percent mainly because of manufacturing beef for processing and value added products, which accounted for 1,012 tonnes.

Japan's imports of chilled chuck, clod and round cuts from the US totalled 1,686 tonnes in the first two months of 2008, up 146 percent from the same period last year.