April 12, 2011
 

Japanese meat sector affected by earthquake

Japan ships in 60% of its food every year, and is the biggest importer of meat globally; being the number one importer of both pig and chicken and second largest beef importer.

The long term problem experienced by Japan's agricultural sector is not the initial damage to infrastructure and livestock, but the unstable nuclear reactor at Fukushima, according to Gerard Brickley, Meat Division Manager at Bord Bia.

A significant part of Japan's pork, poultry and beef industries are located in the impacted region, generating 25%, 22% and 18% of the livestock supply respectively.

It is likely that part of the primary production in this region has been damaged. It has been estimated that this could translate into a loss of meat output of between 70,000 tonnes and 350,000 tonnes.

This, coupled with concerns about local meat safety, is likely to result in increased import requirements for both beef and pork.