June 3, 2008

China, a growing nation with a growing meat appetite

China's growing wealth has increased its meat and dairy consumption considerably, a trend that Western suppliers have become concerned with.

As China's meat consumption rises, more grains are diverted to feed. James Rice, chief of China operations for Tyson Foods, said that could spell the end of China's self-sufficiency for corn and protein.

Rice expects China to import US$4.5 billion worth of protein by 2010.

Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco, Ito-Yokado and fast-food restaurants including MacDonald's and KFC, are expanding rapidly in China, which is a sign of the Asian giant's growing wealth.
 
In 1980, the average Chinese ate 20 kg of meat but it has since grown to 54 kg last year. China now consumes more than 60 million tonnes of meat a year, roughly equivalent to 240 million cows, 600 million pigs, or 24 billion chickens. Meat consumption in developing countries is also rising by more than 5 percent annually.

Each year, 700 million tonnes of grain are required to feed animals worldwide.

China's milk consumption has increased sharply too, as it now imports one-third of the world's traded milk.
 
China has flat out rejected accusations that it is a major reason behind global food inflation. Analysts agree with China, which is impressively self-sufficient in food despite having less than 10 percent of arable land.

In addition, China's inflation target of 4.8 percent this year looks impossible, with last month's consumer price index rising by 8.5 percent due to food and oil price increases.