August and September were particularly strong months when compared year-on-year, with Russian imports up 10 percent and 33 percent respectively.

Analysts believe Russian importers were securing product late in the year to make sure they filled the majority of their import allocations – to ensure they do not lose allocation in 2013.

Brazil remains the largest supplier of beef to the Russian market, with a 40 percent market share.

Beef imports from Brazil increased 7 percent on 2011. Paraguay also held significant market share (18 percent), followed by Uruguay (12 percent), the U.S. (7 percent) and Australia (6 percent).

With Australian beef struggling to be price competitive into Russia throughout 2012, Brazil and Paraguay have increased their presence in the market, assisted by falling South American exchange rates.

Cattle prices in Australia, Brazil and Paraguay give an indication to the advantage held by South American suppliers currently.

In October, Brazilian trade steer prices averaged U.S. $1.42 per pound, while Paraguayan steers averaged $1.35 per pound. T

he Australian indicative national average steer price for October averaged $1.60 per pound.

These lower cattle prices, in combination with the shorter transit distance between South America and Russia, lower processing costs and the tariff advantage enjoyed by both Brazil and Paraguay into the market as developing nations (11.25 percent compared to Australia’s 15 percent), mean Australia’s ability to compete on price has been significantly eroded.

Brazil

Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s biggest integrated meats producer, will open six new slaughterhouses that will increase beef production capacity in the coming months in Brazil by 15 percent, according to a company executive.

The new plants will add processing capacity of 1.2 million head of cattle by July 2013, said Jerry O’Callaghan, head of investor relations.

As the plants get into full swing at the end of 2013, they will be able to process up to two million head a year.

Brazil’s grass-fed beef industry is hoping to gain market share as other global beef producers, such as the U.S., Europe and Australia, reduce the reproductive potential of their herds as they struggle with the high cost of feeds after the recent drought in the U.S. farm belt.

Wesley Batista, JBS chief executive, said the company was quickly reducing its leverage, or debt-to-earnings, with the improving reproductive cycle of the Brazilian cattle herd and a weaker Brazilian real against the dollar.

Plus, he said, the cost of raising an animal in the U.S. is twice the cost of raising an animal in Brazil. “So, they are reducing the size of their herd,” Batista said, adding that the outlook for Brazilian beef production was “extremely positive.”

Assisting the price competitiveness of Brazilian product in many import markets has been the depreciation of the real, which weakened nearly 16 percent in 2012.

The increase in both volume (up 111 percent year-on-year) and value (up 131 percent) was assisted by stronger demand from existing markets such as Hong Kong, Cambodia, Singapore and Macao, as well as a resumption in trade with the U.S.

Japan

Total beef exports from Japan in 2012 were up 27 percent from 2011. The U.S. was the major destination for Japanese Wagyu beef as exports to the U.S. resumed in 2012 following the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in Japan in 2010.

The resumption of shipments to the U.S. was an important milestone for the country that has a significant task of revitalizing agricultural exports, especially after the March 2011 tsunami disaster.

Japan has filed an application with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to upgrade its BSE status to “negligible,” which will improve its trade access if the application is recognized.

United Kingdom

Cattle that used to graze rare habitats across Surrey during the summer will spend winters on a local farm, under an agreement with the National Trust.

The Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) grazes about 300 Belted Galloway cows on its conservation heathlands to clear coarse grass smothering insects and plants.

Only about 35 cows are needed over the winter months to continue grazing a small part of the protected land. The rest of the herd will move to adjacent grass fields held in private hands.

SWT has signed a 10-year Farm Business Tenancy with the National Trust for conservation grazing at the site between December and March. The land will also be used to make hay and silage in the summer.

James Adler, grazing manager, said the tenancy would provide the cattle with a winter home. “The National Trust land we’re looking after is ordinary agricultural land and it’s a grass farm that we’ll be grazing,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll be grazing it relatively sensitively and trying to encourage wildlife onto the farm as well.” He added that the agreement would not affect access to public routes on the land.