Australia | Ag Minister Says U.S. Out-Competing Australia In Japan | Austral...
Ag Minister Says U.S. Out-Competing Australia In Japan
Australia’s Agriculture Minister Warren Truss told the U.S. Senate that American competitors were out-competing Australian companies in Japan and stealing a part of the valuable Japanese market. Truss said that the Australian companies had been “spooked” by the impact of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) on beef sales in Japan and preferred to try and make quick sales in the United States instead of rebuilding the Japanese market.
The minister said Australian meat processors had promised to expand their A$11 million (US$6.28 million) marketing campaign in Japan, but failed to come up with the funds.
Australian cattle prices, which doubled in four years to a new high last year, have fallen 25 percent in the last eight months. Analysts account for the fall on poor Japanese demand, a weaker U.S. market, a rising Australian dollar and increasing cattle numbers. The cattle herd is estimated at 28.8 million and is forecast to rise to 31.6 million in the next two months, approaching the record levels of the 1970s before a major market collapse.
Truss last month unveiled a system to control Australian beef exports to the U.S. to protect exporters traditionally engaged in the U.S. market from companies wishing to switch from Japan. Australia filled its 378,214 mt quota last year and the industry fears it will fill this year’s quota long before the end of 2002.