Reopening of Saudi Arabia to U.S. Beef

Washington, D.C. - Ambassador Michael Froman and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released the following statement upon the decision by Saudi Arabia on June 28, 2016 to reopen its market to U.S. beef

"Saudi Arabia will allow imports of beef and beef products from U.S. cattle less than 30 months of age, with access expanded to include products from U.S. cattle under 48 months after a phase-in period.  Products eligible for export include bone-in and de-boned beef, offal, ground and processed beef.

 "USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is developing a program to certify U.S. beef to Saudi Arabia's import requirements to address the specific conditions in that market and will publish details as soon as they are available.  The AMS Program should be announced in the next few weeks.

“This agreement is yet another example of the Obama Administration’s commitment to addressing barriers blocking U.S. exports. Reopening Saudi Arabia’s market will create additional export opportunities for American ranchers. The United States exported over $31 million of U.S. beef and beef products in 2011, prior to the ban.  Saudi Arabia consumers will now have the opportunity to enjoy high quality American beef.”
statement

Decline of Australian chilled beef shipments to Japan

In 1995, Australian chilled beef shipments to Japan totalled 211,654 tonnes, a massive 95% share of total Australian chilled beef shipments. By 2001, chilled beef to Japan as a share of total chilled beef exports had declined to 84%. Discovery of BSE in North American cattle caused market disruptions from late 2003 and Australian chilled beef to Japan had dropped to 75% of total chilled exports. See below chart from DA figures.

Japan continued to purchase a lower proportion of total beef shipments from Australia in the form of chilled beef. The major slide in Australian chilled beef shipments to Japan continued from 2005 even when Australian chilled beef exports to other markets began to increase. The reduction has continued in recent years right up until the latest fiscal year ended June 2016. Japan chilled beef shipments totalled 123,764 tonnes for the past 12 months, a share of only 40% of total chilled beef exports. This trend is worrying as chilled beef prices drive the whole export beef category value and Japan is a premium market. Australian chilled exports have increased to a range of markets. USA has been strong but has dropped over the past 12 months with lower beef production. Korea has been steady but EU has been flat and Middle East chilled beef shipments have trended down.

Source: DA

Taiwan resumes imports of Canadian beef

Taiwan yesterday lifted a ban on beef imports from Canada, effective immediately.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/07/09/2003650671

Taiwan authority website link

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the decision to resume Canadian beef imports was made after prudent assessment which led the agency to believe that risks from eating beef imported from Canada are low.
The agency said that Canada has established a food management mechanism which is trustworthy and is able to minimize risks to consumers who eat Canadian beef. Taiwan banned imports of Canadian beef products in February last year following confirmation of cases of mad cow disease in Alberta. FDA Director-General Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美) said the agency had been assessing the possibility of lifting the ban since September last year.

Russia Extends Import Food Ban through End 2017

On June, 29th 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Decree #305, extending the ban on certain imported foods from the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, Norway, Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Lichtenstein until the end of 2017. The Government decree implementing the Decree of the President is still pending publication, but according to Prime
Minister Medvedev the list of products covered by the document will remain unchanged.

Decree #305 is identical to Decree #320 of June, 24th, 2015, except for that the terms are now extended for 18 months, through December 31st, 2017, whereas last year’s decree mandated only a 12-months extension. Source: USDA
Copy of decree.
 http://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001201606290006#print

Irish manufacturing beef now approved for USA

Minister announces approval

"The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. today announced that Ireland has secured improved access for Irish beef to the US market, with the decision of authorities there to recognise Ireland’s raw meat control system as equivalent to that of the US. In principle this extends access to include manufacturing beef intended for grinding which is typically used in burgers and similar processed products.  Ireland is the first EU Member State to achieve this status.
Commenting on the news, Minister Creed said “I am delighted with this confirmation that the US authorities have recognised the equivalent standards overseen by my Dept, and granted access to Irish manufacturing beef, building on our existing access from last year. This is the culmination of over a year of intensive work between my Department and its US counterparts. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my US counterpart Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and his officials for their collaboration in helping to reach this milestone”.
The decision follows a January 2015 decision to permit access for raw intact beef from Ireland to the US. Since then, there have been intensive discussions between both sides on a range of technical matters to extend access to manufacturing beef intended for grinding. The new US decision paves the way for Industry to undertake the necessary steps that will enable trade to commence.
Beef from the EU has been banned from the US since it imposed its ban for BSE reasons over fifteen years ago. This ban was only formally lifted in March 2014. Ireland was the first EU MS to secure market access in January 2015 and remains the only MS exporting beef to this market to date."

FAO OECD outlook 2016-2015 Meat chapter

FAO OECD released their 2016-2025 outlook for agricultural commodities and the meat chapter is linked here. 

The full report is linked below.

http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/oecd-fao-agricultural-outlook_19991142

The world price graphic above shows the sharp rise in meat protein prices globally and the current correction underway. New Zealand lamb is used as the indicator for that product and USA cattle and hogs prices. Interestingly, Brazil poultry is used as the indicator for that product. Brazil being a major international exporter and all proteins represent a reasonable share of global trade in their indicators.

Chinese consumer confidence and meat retail price trends

A worthwhile survey of Chinese consumer confidence indicators was released by ANZ Bank and Roy Morgan in the past few days.

ANZ bank Roy Morgan survey

Full report

ANZ Economist Louis Lam said: “Today's figures suggest that Chinese consumer sentiment basically holds up as domestic financial markets have stabilised. The slight decline in June does not change our impression that the economy continues to transform itself into a consumption-led economy."

Meantime, Chinese pork retail prices may be stabilizing after their strong gains and beef retail prices are holding steady, while mutton trends down.

 based on figures released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, beef prices equate to AUD$13.50 per kg and mutton to AUD$12 per kg.