August 30, 2007
Brazil dominates Hong Kong beef imports
Brazil's beef exports to Hong Kong in 2006/07 were up by 18 percent on-year to 29,764 tonnes slaughterweight (swt) and accounted for 48 percent of total beef market share for the period.
Hong Kong beef imports during 2006/07 were up 16 percent compared with the previous year, to 62,422 tonnes slaughterweight (swt) due to surge in shipments from South America and China, which were offered at significantly lower prices than Australian beef.
Hong Kong received 10,479 tonnes swt of Chinese beef during 2006/07. Imports from China climbed 3 percent on 2005/06, and accounted for 17 percent of total imports.
Beef imports from the US jumped 4,167 tonnes swt during 2006-07, to 4,508 tonnes swt, while shipments from Canada eased 3 percent, to 8,632 tonnes swt. Although Hong Kong only buys a small volume of Indian carabeef, imports from this market doubled in 2006-07, to 549 tonnes swt.
Australia and New Zealand supplied 5 percent (2,949 tonnes swt) and 4 percent (2,339 tonnes swt) of total Hong Kong beef imports during 2006/07, respectively. Despite this, chilled beef imports into Hong Kong were dominated by Australia (43 percent) and New Zealand (18 percent) throughout the year.