September 10, 2010

Australian beef exports to Japan show increase

Australia exported 31,439 tonnes swt of beef to Japan in August, an on-year increase of 6%.

Frozen beef exports largely contributed to the growth, particularly grainfed items.

Chilled beef shipments, at 13,327 tonnes were 1% higher than 2009, after consecutive on-year declines since December 2009, the only exception being March 2010. Subdued buying by Japanese importers during previous months and the strengthened yen against the US dollar, appear to have contributed to the improvement.

Frozen grainfed exports grew 38% on-year to 5,314 tonnes, largely due to demand from the foodservice and manufacturing sectors. Frozen grassfed beef shipments also increased by 2% to 12,798 tonnes, with the firm performance by hamburger businesses underpinning volumes.