Editorial: NZ's great China move
OPINION: The New Zealand red meat sector, with support from the Government, has upped the ante to retain and expand its niche in the valuable Chinese market - and the signs are looking positive.
It marks the third month in a row that red meat exports have crossed the $1 billion mark, with MIA recording a $1.1 billion result in both May and June 2022.
China has remained a major market for the sector, with exports to the country worth $460 million, up 42% on July last year.
Other major markets were Japan at $58 million, up 36%, the Netherlands at $38 million, up 132%, and the United Kingdom at $38 million, up 97%.
However, exports to the US dropped by 22% to $191 million.
Overall, beef exports fell 9% year-on-year to 44,744 tonnes but were still high for this time of the year.
Beef export volumes to the US dropped 50% to 9,092 tonnes, in the face of high levels of US beef production resulting from ongoing drought and higher feed and other input costs.
The value of beef exports for the month saw an increase of 17% from last July to reach $485 million.
The value of beef exports to China increased by 66% to $251 million, although the value of beef exports to the US dropped by 39% to $95 million.
Chinese demand for beef continued to be strong, with the volume of exports up 20% from July last year to 23,690 tonnes.
Beef export volumes and values also increased to Japan, up 37%, and to Korea, up 21%.
Meanwhile, sheepmeat exports also saw an increase. A total of 33,533 tonnes of sheepmeat was exported, a 33% increase on July 2021 and the largest volume for the month since 2008.
In the first quarter of the year, there were 1.4 million fewer sheep processed than in the first three months of 2021 but the second quarter saw 738,000 more sheep processed than in the second quarter of last year.
The overall increase in export volume meant there was an increase in sheepmeat volume to most major markets. China was up 24 per cent to 17,874 tonnes, the UK by 98 per cent to 2,703 tonnes, and the Netherlands by 118 per cent to 1,646 tonnes. The US was down by 29 per cent to 1,982 tonnes.
MIA chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says that while the volume of sheepmeat exports to the US was down, value still increased, reaching $23.31/kg.
“The value of sheepmeat exports increased to all the major markets in July, with a total of $384 million, an increase of 40 per cent.”
July was also a strong month for co-products. Exports increased 28 per cent compared to last July, to $230 million. There was an increase in the value of all the categories, particularly casings and tripe, up 76 per cent to $50 million. The major markets were China ($72 million), the US ($50 million) and Indonesia ($18 million).
