US beef must learn to meet Chinese demands, USMEF CEO says
03/08/2015
Mr Seng mentioned as examples of these “headwinds” the labour dispute at ports on the West Coast of the US earlier this year as one factor and also pointed to a more successful approach on the part of competitor countries to gaining ground in the valuable and growing beef market in China.
“China is one of only a handful of international markets that never reopened to US beef following the 2003 BSE case,” the USMEF chief executive said in recent comments. “At that time, and for several years thereafter, China was not a large importer of beef. But that changed dramatically in 2012 when beef import demand in China surged due to strong economic growth and a sharp decline in domestic production.”
He pointed out that China now imports more beef each month than it did in the entire calendar year in 2011. In the first half of this year, imports had a value of nearly $910 million, up 28% from a year ago.
And while the US industry remains on the sidelines, Australia, Uruguay, New Zealand, Argentina and Canada are all gaining what he called “a strong foothold in China”.
He insisted that US beef is safe, as its export to around 100 conutries around the world at the moment shows. He said the difference is that competitor suppliers, most of whom have had cattle-health issues of their own to manage, have “learned that the best way to do business with China, as with any customer, is to meet its expectations”.
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