May 11, 2007

Australia's beef exports to Japan stable

Japan's beef imports from Australia posted 2 percent increase in April against the same period last year, showing steady demand despite the stronger Australian currency and the increased volume of US beef in the market.

Australia shipped 30,563 tonnes of beef - 17,023 tonnes of grassfed (56 percent of total, 1 percent lower than April 2006) and 13,540 tonnes of grainfed (43 percent of total, 6 percent up on last year). The growth was achieved despite the high Australian dollar, which average 83 US cents in April - 12 percent above the same time last year.

For the first four months of the year, Australian beef exports to Japan were up 1.5 percent on 2006 levels.

The volume of the US beef imported into Japan totalled 2,209 tonnes in March, a 35 percent increase from the previous month.