News Update

News Update
May 16, 2006

Tokyo wants answers on U.S. beef before restarting talks

Japan wants to see the results of a survey of U.S. meatpacking before starting talks on reopening its market to American beef, Japan’s agriculture minister said Tuesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported in an article posted on cattlenetwork.com. Chuck Lambert, U.S. undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, is leading a team of agriculture officials to Tokyo this week to restart talks on lifting Japan’s ban on U.S. beef.

Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said the negotiations could start as soon as Wednesday if Tokyo gets the answers to questions it had about 37 meatpacking plants, the AP article said.

“We only received an overview, but there are things we want to confirm,” Nakagawa told reporters. “We want to hold talks once we receive answers.”

The U.S. Embassy confirmed Lambert and his delegation were in Tokyo, but could not say whether talks would start on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the AP article.

Australian cattle in feedlots increased 22%

The Australian Lot Feeders Association confirmed that the number of cattle in Australian feedlots surged in the first quarter of 2006, partly on the back of stronger demand from Japan, a major export destination, the Dow Jones Newswire reported in an article posted on cattlenetwork.com. The number of cattle in feedlots surged 22% to a record 895,676 animals at the end of the first quarter and was up 4.6% from last year, according to a quarterly survey issued by the association and marketing concern Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd.

Malcolm Foster, president of the association, said some of the increase in numbers of cattle on feed can be attributed to normal seasonal trends, particularly in Western Australia, but there were also clear market fundamentals underpinning the rise.

The strong growth can partly be attributed to demand pull following a reimposition in January of a Japanese import ban on U.S. beef, which then slowed negotiations between the U.S. and other countries about their import bans, Foster said in a statement, the Dow Jones article continued. Australian lot feeders rallied to meet the subsequent increased demand from Japan and South Korea, he said.

Australia is the second biggest global beef exporter after Brazil, with exports accounting for about two-thirds of total production. Demand for Australian beef has been strong since early 2004, mostly due to a lack of competition from the U.S. in Japan and South Korea, the article continued.

— compiled by Meghan Soderstrom, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.