Beef volumes are up by over 100,000t to 398,000t compared with January and February 2020.

The main suppliers of beef are Brazil, which supplied 162,000t of this, up from 96,000t, Argentina 91,000t, up from 65,000t, and Uruguay 56,000t, up from 33,120.

The other notable increase compared with January and February last year is the US, which grew from under 2,000t to almost 13,000t.

Australia is the only major supplier that China has imported less from, with 27,000t in January and February less than half the volume for the same period last year. This is because beef volumes there are reduced because of herd rebuilding, as well as a number of Australian factories being suspended at present.

Europe is the main supplier of Chinese pigmeat imports, with Spain alone supplying one-third

Irish beef exports to China also remain suspended since May 2020 because of a BSE case.

Chinese pigmeat imports jumped in the first two months of 2021 to 689,000t, up from 544,000t for the same period in 2020.

Europe is the main supplier of Chinese pigmeat imports, with Spain alone supplying one-third. Ireland exported over 12,000t in January and February, up from less than 9,000t in the same period last year and more than twice the volumes exported in the same period in 2019.

Sheepmeat imports have fallen from 63,000t for January and February 2020 to 49,000t this year, reflecting a big reduction in supplies from Australia and a smaller drop from New Zealand.