Brazilian beef exports surpassed 1.2bn tonnes for 2017, which is a 12% increase compared with 2016. The strong rise in exports last year comes despite the Operation Weak Flesh meat scandal last March.

Russian pork production increased 5% last year to reach close to 3.6m tonnes, according to Russia’s agriculture ministry. Poultry production for 2017 increased by 7% year on year to reach just under 5m tonnes.

Japan imported almost 16,000t of German pork for the first 10 months (January to October) of 2017, which is a 36% increase year on year. Despite the strong growth, Germany has just a 2% share of the large Japanese import market for pork.

US red meat and poultry consumption is forecast to hit 100.8kg per person in 2018, according to the USDA. This will be a new record for US meat consumption if realised, surpassing the previous record of 100.7kg per person set in 2004.