This is a subscriber-only article
In its January outlook for global meat production and trade the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA / FAS) forecast that 10.8m tonnes will be traded internationally, 11.1m tonnes of pigmeat and 12.1m tonnes of poultry meat.
Beef exporters
Brazil is expected to create another new record for beef export volumes at 2.67m tonnes, a year-on-year increase from 1.8m tonnes in 2017.
The major driver for Brazilian beef exports in 2020 was demand from China. This surged to 688,659t product weight for the first 11 months of 2020, compared with 278,373t for the same period in 2019.
Ireland’s participation in the international meat trade increased to 11% of exports in 2020
The USA is expected to be the second-largest beef exporter in 2020, shipping 1.4m tonnes, followed by Australia, which is forecast to drop to 1.36m tonnes in 2021, the lowest levels in recent years as the herd rebuilding process continues there following drought in 2019 and early 2020.
Argentina will be the next-biggest exporter of beef at 770,000t, which is considered the limit of its current beef export potential, having increased progressively from 283,000t in 2017.
Ireland exported 550,000t of beef in 2020, the largest net exporter in the northern hemisphere.
Beef importers
As well as being the second- or third-top beef exporter, the USA is also consistently the second-largest importer of beef in the world after China, which is expected to have imported 2.8m tonnes of beef in 2020.
This is because of the need to achieve carcase balance - the US exports steak meat and higher-value hindquarter cuts, particularly to Asian markets, and imports forequarter manufacturing beef used in burgers.
In 2021, USDA FAS predicts the US will import 1.413m tonnes of beef, slightly down on 1.455m tonnes forecast for 2020 this time last year.
Japan will be the next-biggest importer of beef in 2021, forecast to take 845,000t, with South Korea forecast at 540,000t and Hong Kong at 525,000t in addition to China.
The EU will be the third-largest importer of beef in 2021, forecast to take 325,000t, the lowest in recent years.
This is because the major South American beef exporting countries have targeted China as a more valuable market than the EU, which was a very weak market for imported beef in 2020, as so much of the catering and hospitality market was closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Global beef trading markets were stable in 2020, with the exception of the continued growth in Brazil’s and China’s imports.
Other countries have marginal adjustments, with the greatest disruption experienced by Australia, which is rebuilding the herd after prolonged drought.
This, in a way, suits Australia, as it had four large exporting factories suspended from supplying China in 2020.
Ireland’s participation in the international meat trade increased to 11% of exports in 2020, reflecting growth in the USA, Canada and Japan.
China had been showing tremendous promise, but Irish exports to China have been suspended since May following the discovery of a case of BSE.
SHARING OPTIONS: