September 16, 2009

New Zealand beef and veal exports in August dropped 26 percent on-year to 16,470 tonnes swt, with large declines to the US, Japan and Taiwan.

Shipments to US fell 56 percent to 4,638 tonnes, and volumes to Japan dropped 41 percent to 1,721 tonnes. Exports to Taiwan also fell 17 percent to 1,062 tonnes.

While the large-scale retirement of the US dairy herd and the strengthening appreciation of the New Zealand dollar were factors in the decline, the main reason was a sharp decrease in beef production in July.

Beef production fell 13 percent in July to 29,919 tonnes, with slaughter also falling 12 percent to 290,000 head. Many producers are currently entering a restocking phase after successive years of drought. 

Lower supplies and reduced demand for imported manufacturing beef, especially in the US, resulted in a 32-percent decline in manufactured beef exports in August to 5,742 tonnes.

But exports to Canada surged 109 percent to 2,121 tonnes in August.

Overall exports for the calendar year to August also remain nearly on par with the year-ago level at 272,315 tonnes swt.