World meat industry news

Beef is the third most consumed meat product in the world, and its market consumption is second only to pork and poultry. According to the statistics of the World Food Organization, the United States, Brazil and China are the top three countries in terms of total beef consumption in the world. According to the annual per capita beef consumption in 2009, Argentina ranked first with a per capita consumption of 64.6 kg; the United States ranked second with a per capita consumption of 42.1 kg; and Europe ranked third with a per capita consumption of 11.9 kg.

 According to relevant data , China's beef consumption has shown rapid growth in recent years. In 2019, China's total beef consumption was 8.329 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.36%. Per capita consumption has also increased from 4.88 kg in 2016 to 5.95 kg in 2019 .

 Although China's beef cattle breeding industry is also a traditional industry, due to various reasons, the cost of beef cattle breeding in China is still relatively high. As a result, farmers' enthusiasm for raising beef cattle is not very high, which makes it difficult for our domestic beef cattle inventory. Meet the people's demand for beef. According to data released by relevant departments, in 2020, China's beef cattle production will only be 6.72 million tons, and compared with the demand for beef in the Chinese market, there is a gap of nearly 2 million tons.

In order to meet the demand for beef in the domestic market, China imports part of its beef from abroad every year. In 2020 alone, China's beef imports have reached 10.179 billion U.S. dollars, and beef imports have reached 2.1183 million tons, with year-on-year increases of 23.8% and 27.7% respectively.

In the past, China's main beef importers were Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and New Zealand. Among these major beef importing countries, Australia is China's most important beef importing country. In the first nine months of 2019 alone, Australia's beef exports to China have exceeded 200,000 tons, a surge of 73% year-on-year in 2018.

However, since 2020, China has repeatedly detected quality problems in Australia 's beef products exported to China. As a result, China has drastically reduced its imports of Australian beef, which has led to a "downhill" in Australian beef trade with China. According to reports, as of the end of 2020, there are still 8 meat processing plants in Australia that have been suspended from beef imports by China.

Veronica Nikishina, general manager of the Russian Export Center, said that in the first quarter of 2021, Russia's beef exports to China reached 26 times that of the same period in 2020; more than 50% of the country's total beef exports were shipped to the Chinese market .

It is worth mentioning that in 2020, China will also become the largest export market for Russian meat products. According to reports, last year Russia's beef exports to China increased by 4.5 times year-on-year. In this regard, Russian beef exporters are delighted.

While Russian beef exporters are rejoicing, Australian beef exporters are complaining. The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Meat Industry Council-Hutchinson said:

In 2020, Australia's beef exports to China have been reduced by about one-third, and with China's export ban on Australian beef companies, the Australian beef industry has lost hundreds of millions of Australian dollars.

In fact, as an Australian beef exporter, what needs to be done now is not to complain, but to examine the quality of the beef produced by itself. When the quality of beef is really improved, even if it is unable to capture the Chinese market and the world market. The door will also open for Australian beef.