September 27, 2007

Japan August meat imports up 2.3 percent on-year

Japan's meat imports in August rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 190,043 tonnes, preliminary data from the Finance Ministry showed.

US meat imports rose by 9 percent from a year earlier to 37,069 tonnes.

Japan's decision in mid-June to stop checking all American beef cargoes, a time-consuming and costly process, has helped increase beef imports from the United States.

More Japanese supermarkets have also started selling US beef as consumer fears about the safety of the meat eased. Japan imposed a ban on US beef after the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States in December 2003.

Japan currently only accepts beef from cattle aged 20 months or younger, but the United States is pushing Japan, its top beef buyer, to allow beef exports from older cattle, a move which industry sources say would increase US supplies.

The ministry also said imports of soy also increased by 41.5 percent to 347,979 tonnes year-on-year.

A trade industry official said year-on-year rise of about 100,000 tonnes mean two Panamax carriers, suggesting that some buyers may have moved forward planned imports amid expectations of a rise in freight costs and higher prices for the new crop.

Details of August data were as follows: