August 31, 2009

China's demand for imported beef continued to rise in June, taking the total volume for the first half of 2009 to a record 5,890 tonnes, an on-year increase of 129 percent and a 13-percent jump from the previous record of 5,195 tonnes in 2003.

Both chilled and frozen beef imports reached new highs for the January to June period, totalling 302 tonnes and 5,587 tonnes respectively.

As the expanding retail and foodservice sectors continued to face tight domestic supplies, it led to the surge in volumes from Australia and New Zealand and the overall increase in China's beef imports for the first half of the year.

During this period, Australia remained the largest exporter of beef to China by accounting for 45 percent or 2,624 tonnes of the total imports. Meanwhile, Uruguayan beef represented 26 percent or 1,559 tonnes of imports while New Zealand's market share was 22 percent or 1,296 tonnes.

With three Brazilian plants approved to export boneless beef to China, imports of Brazilian beef during the first half of 2009 reached 411 tonnes or 7 percent of the total beef imports into the country.

Australia was also the major supplier of chilled imported beef into China during January to June by accounting for 96 percent while the remaining four percent was from Brazil and New Zealand.