August 24, 2007

Amid popularity, beef brisket market still small in Japan

Its versatile taste and marbling quality has made beef brisket a popular item in the Japanese meat market. However, last year's volume was only 44 percent compared in 2003, and the limited product from the US is keeping supplies tight in 2007.

Australian briskets are called "bara" by Japanese traders and on labels at retail. Sliced bara are used in varied Japanese dishes such as gyudon (beef rice bowl), yakiniku (Japanese or Korean style barbeque), shabu shabu (beef hot pot) or nikujaga (Japanese style beef and potato stew).

The US had traditionally been the largest supplier of brisket (shortplate) to Japan, taking 70 percent of total market share (of imported beef) in 2003. However, imports were banned by the Japanese government due to the BSE outbreak in US cattle farms in December 2003.

Japan had imported 244,633 tonnes of bara in 2003, taking 42 percent of total beef imports. In 2004, the volume dropped by two-thirds to 84,279 tonnes, after the US ban, then lifted back to 107,055 tonnes in 2006, with Australia nearly doubling its supply in three years. Despite the increase in Australian product, Japan's brisket market was still left approximately 140,000 tonnes short in 2006 compared with 2003.

Imports of briskets during the first half of 2007 has reached 61,807 tonnes, with Australia supplying 45,272 tonnes (73 percent) and the US by 8,683 tonnes (14 percent). Increased volumes of US shortplate are expected to arrive in the Japanese market over the reminder of 2007, although the availability would be still only a fraction of the 2003 level, due to the current age limitation.