Japan to Import Emergency Butter Shipment
The Japanese diet is known for traditional staples such as rice, fish and miso soup. But make no mistake, Japan also consumes lots of that most Western of food products — butter.
So when supplies run low it’s a big problem for food producers, restaurants, bakeries and homemakers.
That is the case now, as the country faces a looming shortage due to sagging production of milk since last year. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on May 21 it would import an emergency shipment of 7,000 tons this year, the country’s biggest-ever emergency butter import. The ministry also said it would need to import emergency shipments of skimmed milk powder.
“Butter prices have been increasing recently. I think the croissants and other pastries that use a lot of butter in bakeries have either gotten more expensive, or the sizes have become smaller,” Satoko Maeda, a homemaker in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo, told JRT.
The emergency butter import is on top of the 3,000 tons Japan has already committed to importing in the fiscal year that began in April 2014.
The agriculture ministry said the supplies are expected to arrive in the autumn, in time for peak demand as bakeries churn out Christmas cakes and other seasonal treats.
One of the country’s leading butter producers, Megmilk Snow Brand Co.2270.TO +0.08%, based in Sapporo on the northern main island of Hokkaido, said it would raise the price on its Snow Brand Hokkaido butter by 2% this summer due to higher milk prices, the first increase since October 2012. The retail price for 200 grams, a common amount for household purchases, will increase to ?393 from ?385.
Japanese raw milk production has suffered due to last summer’s abnormally hot weather, and to the long and bitterly cold Hokkaido winter that led to a shortage of forage for cows. Hokkaido accounts for more than 50% of Japanese milk production.
Milk production is also suffering from longer-term problems, as dairy farmers steadily leave the industry, with many smaller operators finding costs unsustainable.
According agriculture ministry data, butter production in Japan has fallen month by month since July last year, plunging 23.5% in February alone, the steepest monthly drop since 1994. In April, private industry stocks fell 29.2% from the year before.
Japan imposes high tariffs on butter imports, but can import dairy products at lower tariffs each year under a quota system. New Zealand is the biggest exporter of butter to Japan.
This isn’t the first time Japan has had to resort to emergency butter imports. In 2008, it imported 5,000 tons as shoppers found supermarket shelves empty.
Nor is Japan the only wealthy nation to encounter a serious shortage. In 2011, Norway suffered a winter shortage, prompting people to line up for Danish butter and churn out their own at home.
Source from: http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/06/03/japan-to-import-emergency-butter-shipment/
China Broiler Industry Situation and Future Trend
I. Grandparent white feather broiler breeder
In 2013, 15 companies imported grandparent white feather broiler breeders from oversea farms with a total import quantity of 1.54 million sets, increased 11.55% compared with that in 2012.
Largest Grandparent stock was imported in March, June, October and months with least introduction quantity are September (none), April and July.
II. Parent white feather broiler breeder
Monitoring companies are mainly large leading broiler breeding farms. Quantity of parent stock in monitoring companies shrank 5.29% compared to 2012 due to the influence of H7N9.
It is estimated that inventory of white feather broiler parent breeders was about 41.85 million sets.
III. Commercial white feather broiler
Average broiler price was about CNY 8.6/Kg in 2013, a 3.82% decrease from 2012
According to China Poultry Association, output of commercial white feather broiler was about 4.78 billion birds in 2013.
According to survey data of National broiler industry system, survival rate of broiler was 93.59%, 94.33% respectively in 2012, 2013; market weight was about 2.33Kg, 2.32 kg respectively. And output of commercial white feather broiler in 2013 was approximately 4.5 billion birds based on the former data, if assumed carcass rate was 75%, chicken meat production was about 7.8 million tonnes in 2013.
IV. Forecast
It is predicted that broiler meat price would go up with the rise of pork price in second half year of 2014.
Source: http://www.xinm123.com/html/people/366669.html
Dairy Ho Chi Minh City Company will open beef cattle farm in Lam Dong province
The beef breeding project of Dairy HCMC Company will be deployed Duc Trong district, Lam Dong province with 237 hectares of total area in 2014. As expected, this farm will provide 1,000 beef cows per year.
Michael Boddington from Asian Agribusiness Consulting (AAC) has been involved in agribusiness in Asia since 2000. AAC has office both in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City and China Beijing. So AAC has a thorough understanding of the Viet Nam and China livestock industry and produces up-to-date research reports on the market. We can offer insights on supply and demand trends and comments on the future structure of Asian agribusiness. If you would like to know more please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.vietlinh.vn/library/news/2014/agriculture_livestock_news_show_2014.asp?ID=525
Tay Ninh province exports 10,000 chickens to Cambodia every day
According to the Veterinary Department of Tay Ninh province, the province exports about 10,000 safety chickens to Cambodia every day, reaching USD 50,000 of turnover.
Currently, there are 86 modern farms with about 5.5 million of chickens/year. The price of chicken has increased from VND 26,000 per kg to VND 38,000 per kg. With this price, the farmers get VND 4,000-5,000 per kg of profit.
Michael Boddington from Asian Agribusiness Consulting (AAC) has been involved in agribusiness in Asia since 2000. AAC has office both in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City and China Beijing. So AAC has a thorough understanding of the Viet Nam and China livestock industry and produces up-to-date research reports on the market. We can offer insights on supply and demand trends and comments on the future structure of Asian agribusiness. If you would like to know more please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://www.vietnamplus.vn/tay-ninh-xuat-sang-campuchia-10000-con-ga-sach-moi-ngay/261415.vnp