September 10, 2004

Nippon Meat To Double Aussie Beef Plant Capacity

Nippon Meat Packers Inc., also known as Nippon Ham, plans to expand its beef processing plant in Queensland, Australia, in a bid to double the capacity there to 2,000 head of cattle a day, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Thursday morning edition.

The major meat packer has earmarked A$42.56 million, or about Y3.3 billion, for construction at its meat packing subsidiary in Australia, Oakey Abattoir Pty. The project, which is already under way, is expected to be completed in 2008.

The company has two other processing facilities in Australia, in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. The total processing capacity of the three plants is currently about 2,800 head of cattle daily.

Ever since Japan banned U.S. beef imports after a case of mad cow disease was discovered there at the end of last year, consumption of Australian beef has been increasing, and the new plant aims to tap this growing demand, the report said.

Even though Japan is moving toward resuming U.S. beef imports as early as November, Nippon Ham decided to bolster its processing capacity for Australian beef to strengthen its supply structure for imported meat.

Nippon Ham handled about 200,000 tons of beef in fiscal 2003, 170,000 tons of which were imports. Of the imported beef, 100,000 tons came from the U.S. and 70,000 tons were from Australia.