China Customs Statistics August Beef Imports: Average Price of Beef Imports Rebound

According to recent data released by the customs, although China's total meat imports reached 570,000 tons in August, showing certain market vitality, the import volume of the four major meats (pigs, cattle, sheep and poultry) declined year-on-year, reflecting the uncertainty of the international trade environment and the adjustment of the domestic market demand structure. 

Beef imports rose slightly again in August to 230,000 tons after maintaining a high monthly import volume of more than 200,000 tons for 15 consecutive months.  This achievement not only highlights the strong demand for beef in the Chinese market, but also indicates that beef imports will remain an important growth point for meat imports in the future.  However, this growth has not been unimpeded.  The sharp rise in Argentine cow prices led to a decline in the willingness to process exports, the expectation of tariff increases after Australia beef imports approached the trigger level, and the reduction of exports to China due to insufficient supply of new Zealand beef, which gave priority to protecting the North American market, were all important factors restricting the further expansion of beef imports. 

For the whole year, the cumulative import volume of beef from January to August reached 1.89 million tons, which was significantly higher than that of the same period last year and higher than the average level of the previous three years, showing a loose supply pattern.  Under this background, the average price of beef imports in August rebounded to 34424 yuan/ton, ending the downward trend for three consecutive months, indicating the stabilization of market prices.  Combined with the global beef market price trend, it is expected that the average price of beef imports will remain firm in the later period, bringing some price stability to importers and consumers. 

In addition to beef imports, poultry imports hit a monthly record for the year in August, indicating strong domestic demand for poultry.  Although the overall import volume has declined year-on-year, this growth trend is still worthy of attention.  In contrast, pig offal imports remained at a similar level to the same period last year, with cumulative imports approaching 30,000 tons, showing some market stability.