Meat imports up 7.84% by volume in first 7 months

THE volume of meat imports rose 7.84% in the seven months to July, led by beef, chicken, and pork, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) reported.

The BAI said on Thursday that imports rose to 757.3 million kilograms. 

Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel V. de Mesa said that the increase in meat imports was driven by the anticipated low supply of pork due to the resurgence of African Swine Fever (ASF).

As of Sept. 20, 125 municipalities across 31 provinces had active ASF cases, the BAI reported.

“Expect higher imports versus last year,” Mr. De Mesa said via Messenger chat.

Meat imports in July declined 1.72% to 109.55 million kilos.

Accounting for about 49.25% of all imports, pork shipments rose 7.54% to 372.94 million kilos for the first seven months.

Spain supplied around 80.73 million kilos of pork, followed by Brazil (71.96 million kilos) and Canada (46.75 million kilos) during the period.

Shipments of chicken totaled 255.38 million kilos in the seven months to July. Shipments rose 2.41% and accounted for 33.72% of meat imports.

Brazil remained the top supplier of chicken with 121.14 million kilos, followed by the US (67.48 million kilos) and Australia (9.17 million kilos).

Beef imports increased 30.9% to 101.69 million kilos during the seven months, accounting for 13.43% of total meat imports.

Beef from Brazil amounted to 30.52 million kilos, followed by Australia (24.2 million kilos), and Ireland (7.7 million kilos).

Imports of turkey meat more than doubled to 897,369 kilos during the period.

Meanwhile, shipments of buffalo, duck, and lamb declined during the seven-month period.

Shipments of buffalo dropped 8.7% to 25.89 million kilos.

Imports of duck and lamb fell during the period by 51.32% to 97,270 kilos and by 17.33% to 401,066 kilos, respectively. — Adrian H. Halili