March 7, 2007

Australian beef exports to Japan predicted to fall
 

Australian beef exports to Japan will fall by 5 percent over the next two years due to increased competition from US beef, according to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) on March 6.

Figures released by ABARE predict beef exports to Japan will fall from 400,000 tonnes in fiscal 2006 which ends June 30 this year to 390,000 tonnes in fiscal 2007.

Exports are likely to fall a further 10,000 tonnes in the following fiscal year.

Higher Australian beef prices and the re-entry of US beef into the Japanese market are expected to influence the downward trend, ABARE said.