Japan imported 45,366 tonnes of beef in August, up 17% compared with the same period in 2009 and the highest monthly total since October 2009, according to the country’s finance ministry.

The increase was primarily due to lower import volumes in June and July, which were 8% and 13% lower than the previous year, respectively.
Imports of beef from Australia to Japan increased 15% over the prior-year period to 31,199 tonnes, while import volumes of US beef rose 11% to 8,986 tonnes. However, the US figure is still 47% below levels recorded before the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak in the US in 2003).

For the year-to-date, Japan’s beef imports totalled 317,024 tonnes, just 1% less below last year’s levels.

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