Asia Pacific | Pork to Japan not hurt by dealWith the eventual lifting of ban...

Asia Pacific

Pork to Japan not hurt by deal
With the eventual lifting of bans on US beef imports in Asia, US pork exports to these Pacific Rim countries will likely suffer only modestly, according to Phillip Seng, President and Chief Executive Officer of the US Meat Export Federation.

No U.S. beef in Japan anytime soon
U.S. beef exporters may take at least six months to begin winning back the $1.7 billion sales to Japan because of restrictions imposed by the country in agreeing to ease a 10-month import ban, a Tyson Foods Inc. official said.

Japan backlash against U.S. beef
Japanese consumer groups and opposition party members have criticized the proposed opening of the border to U.S. beef, calling it a politically motivated gift to U.S. president George Bush.

Fighting Words
Australia and the United States could be going head-to-head in a battle for the huge Japanese beef market. This week, Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss pledged that Australia will continue to make every effort to maintain its strong standing as an exporter of quality beef to the Japanese market even after the re-entry of the United States into the market.

Brakes On Beef?
An early return for U.S. beef to the Japanese market appeared to be ruled out by reports from Japan. Kyodo News reported that Hosei Norota, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Comprehensive Agricultural Administration had said that U.S. beef imports would not return until after next summer. He explained that time was needed to resolve domestic procedures. And Joel Haggard, the U.S. Meat Export Federation director for the region in a letter to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, said that there are many details to be resolved, but “both sides are moving fast for it to happen”.

Europe

Europe clears Cargill's purchase of Brazil's Seara
The European Commission has cleared, under the European Union’s Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Brazilian pork and poultry producer Seara Alimentos, by US agribusiness Cargill.

Russia pork prices up 70%
Domestic pork prices in Russia have increased 70 percent over the past 12 months. During July to September domestic pork prices grew 27 percent, and imported pork 17 percent.

Germany wrestles with massive beef import fraud
Indian buffalo masquerading as Australian or Brazilian beef is flooding into Germany, Der Spiegel reports. About 45 containers of buffalo meat were seized at the port of Hamburg, and the magazine says that similar cases have occurred in three other German ports. The meat is considered impossible to sell on the international market because of the widespread incidence of foot-and-mouth disease in India.

Americas

Maple Leaf Q3 profits leap
Maple Leaf Foods, Toronto, reported that its third-quarter operating income more than doubled in the third quarter, spurred by a major turnaround in its meat division, and that sales jumped 31 percent, to $1.7 billion, as compared to $1.3 billion for the same period last year. Year-to-date sales rose to $4.6 billion, from $3.8 billion during the same period last year, mainly due to the acquisition of Schneider Foods.

Brazil plans pork industry move
Brazil might be poised to make a move with its pork industry as it did with soybeans in the 1970s. "We are sitting back to the equivalent of the 1960s and early '70s at the infancy of the Brazilian soybean industry," says Purdue University ag economist Ken Foster, comparing Brazil's pork production to its soybean increase of the 1970s.

Canada BSE tests exceed target for year
Over 8,600 head of cattle have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy so far this year, exceeding the goal for the entire year, Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture, announced in Ottawa yesterday.

USA

Swift pork plant expansion
Wednesday Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman toured southern Minnesota and made a stop in Worthington at Swift and Company. Veneman toured the plant in the middle of its three-part, $20-million expansion. The changes focus on making the pork processing facility safer and more welcoming.

USDA to provide additional funding for animal ID program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing an additional $1.5 million for national animal identification system cooperative agreements with states.

Feedlots Filling
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.5 million head on October 1, 2004. The inventory was three percent above October 1, 2003 and up slightly from October 1, 2002.

Colorado cattlemen, hail easing of Japan's beef ban
Colorado cattle producers are applauding an agreement to resume U.S. beef exports to Japan, while meatpackers are wary over some of the deal's provisions.

Asia Pacific

Pork to Japan not hurt by deal
With the eventual lifting of bans on US beef imports in Asia, US pork exports to these Pacific Rim countries will likely suffer only modestly, according to Phillip Seng, President and Chief Executive Officer of the US Meat Export Federation.

No U.S. beef in Japan anytime soon
U.S. beef exporters may take at least six months to begin winning back the $1.7 billion sales to Japan because of restrictions imposed by the country in agreeing to ease a 10-month import ban, a Tyson Foods Inc. official said.

Japan backlash against U.S. beef
Japanese consumer groups and opposition party members have criticized the proposed opening of the border to U.S. beef, calling it a politically motivated gift to U.S. president George Bush.

Fighting Words
Australia and the United States could be going head-to-head in a battle for the huge Japanese beef market. This week, Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss pledged that Australia will continue to make every effort to maintain its strong standing as an exporter of quality beef to the Japanese market even after the re-entry of the United States into the market.

Brakes On Beef?
An early return for U.S. beef to the Japanese market appeared to be ruled out by reports from Japan. Kyodo News reported that Hosei Norota, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Comprehensive Agricultural Administration had said that U.S. beef imports would not return until after next summer. He explained that time was needed to resolve domestic procedures. And Joel Haggard, the U.S. Meat Export Federation director for the region in a letter to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, said that there are many details to be resolved, but “both sides are moving fast for it to happen”.

Europe

Europe clears Cargill's purchase of Brazil's Seara
The European Commission has cleared, under the European Union’s Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Brazilian pork and poultry producer Seara Alimentos, by US agribusiness Cargill.

Russia pork prices up 70%
Domestic pork prices in Russia have increased 70 percent over the past 12 months. During July to September domestic pork prices grew 27 percent, and imported pork 17 percent.

Germany wrestles with massive beef import fraud
Indian buffalo masquerading as Australian or Brazilian beef is flooding into Germany, Der Spiegel reports. About 45 containers of buffalo meat were seized at the port of Hamburg, and the magazine says that similar cases have occurred in three other German ports. The meat is considered impossible to sell on the international market because of the widespread incidence of foot-and-mouth disease in India.

Americas

Maple Leaf Q3 profits leap
Maple Leaf Foods, Toronto, reported that its third-quarter operating income more than doubled in the third quarter, spurred by a major turnaround in its meat division, and that sales jumped 31 percent, to $1.7 billion, as compared to $1.3 billion for the same period last year. Year-to-date sales rose to $4.6 billion, from $3.8 billion during the same period last year, mainly due to the acquisition of Schneider Foods.

Brazil plans pork industry move
Brazil might be poised to make a move with its pork industry as it did with soybeans in the 1970s. "We are sitting back to the equivalent of the 1960s and early '70s at the infancy of the Brazilian soybean industry," says Purdue University ag economist Ken Foster, comparing Brazil's pork production to its soybean increase of the 1970s.

Canada BSE tests exceed target for year
Over 8,600 head of cattle have been tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy so far this year, exceeding the goal for the entire year, Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture, announced in Ottawa yesterday.

USA

Swift pork plant expansion
Wednesday Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman toured southern Minnesota and made a stop in Worthington at Swift and Company. Veneman toured the plant in the middle of its three-part, $20-million expansion. The changes focus on making the pork processing facility safer and more welcoming.

USDA to provide additional funding for animal ID program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing an additional $1.5 million for national animal identification system cooperative agreements with states.

Feedlots Filling
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.5 million head on October 1, 2004. The inventory was three percent above October 1, 2003 and up slightly from October 1, 2002.

Colorado cattlemen, hail easing of Japan's beef ban
Colorado cattle producers are applauding an agreement to resume U.S. beef exports to Japan, while meatpackers are wary over some of the deal's provisions.