September 10, 2010

Russia's beef demand continues to be strong

During the first eight months of 2010, Russian beef imports reached 365,000 tonnes swt, slightly above the corresponding period last year (360,550 tonnes swt).

However, a significant change from 2009 is that South American supplies, especially from Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, are both tighter and dearer, which has seen increased interest in Australian product.

According to South American trade reports, Russian imported beef price quotes are high when compared to prices on offer in the domestic market (especially for forequarter cuts), which can be largely attributed to local traders trying to fill their beef import quota allocations prior to December. While both demand and prices from Russia have increased in recent weeks, buying is still cautious in comparison to 2008.

Russian importers are currently facing very strong competition from the Middle East for South American beef, along with robust domestic beef demand in Brazil.

For January to August 2010, Australian beef exports to Russia totalled 22,960 tonnes swt, up from 9,821 tonnes swt for the same period last year, but still well behind the record 72,000 tonnes swt shipped during the 2008 calendar year.