China and US predicted to be main importers of beef for 2016
A quarterly review by Rabobank on the beef industry predicts that China and the US will be the main importers of beef. Despite a slowdown in China's economy, the country is expected to play a pivotal role in the beef industry as Rabobank's Angus Gidley-Baird points out, "the introduction of live cattle trade for slaughter or feeding in China provides domestic players the opportunity to offer imports as fresh chilled beef to retail markets, claiming a premium over traditional imports of frozen meat".

The tight supply of beef around the world will support global prices, despite the fact that demand for beef is expected to remain stagnant over the next 12 months, a report from Rabobank says.

Rabobank’s Global Beef Quarterly Q4 report, published on Monday 15 December, outlines the outlook of beef – and it’s an overwhelmingly good picture for the industry, albeit the pessimist may argue not a lot will change in 2016.

But with supply pressure easing, the US and China are both predicted to be the main importers of beef. What is important here is to pay attention to the markets of America and China respectively, as the strength of demand may well have a significant impact on the price per head of cattle, claims the Rabobank report.

'Domestic players'​

Despite a cooling Chinese economy, the country is expected to play a pivotal role in the beef industry in the coming year. And, according to Angus Gidley-Baird, the senior animal protein analyst at Rabobank: “The introduction of live cattle trade for slaughter or feeding in China provides domestic players the opportunity to offer imports as fresh chilled beef to retail markets, claiming a premium over traditional imports of frozen meat.​”

On the export side of the coin, Australia, Brazil, India and the US have been earmarked for a myriad of reasons as export markets to keep an eye on.

One of the key highlights addressed in the report is that Brazil will gain access to the US cattle market in 2016. It’s not stated how much this trade opportunity with generate in revenue for the South American state, but the deal will help facilitate its entry into other markets via the US, according to Gidley-Baird.

As a result of this trade deal, Brazil is among the top exporters to watch in the beef business next year.