Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 11/2/16


Exports are increasingly important to U.S. producers and processors as domestic consumption remains mostly flat and Japan is an attractive target for the rest of 2016 — although less so in 2017 — according to USDA.

Japan’s 2016 broiler meat production, consumption and importation are on pace to break record highs established in 2015, reports the agency’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN).

Domestic broiler meat production in Japan is projected to climb 2 percent to 1.4 million metric tons for 2016; total consumption also is projected rise 2 percent to 2.6 million metric tons; and imports are projected up 1 percent to 945,000 metric tons this year, GAIN projected.

Japan’s broiler meat supply and consumption have grown briskly through the first half of 2016. However, USDA anticipates that high 2016 year-ending stock levels — projected up 15 percent to 157,000 metric tons — and ample supplies of competing proteins in the market could weigh down 2017 production, import and consumption numbers.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) estimates that households, as measured by retail consumption data, consume about 40 percent of total broiler meat in Japan. Food service, ready-to-eat food businesses, and other institutional end-users consume more than 50 percent, with the remaining volumes used for processed products. While Japanese domestic chilled raw broiler meat dominates the retail market, imported raw broiler meat and cooked prepared products are extensively used in food service, ready-to-eat food businesses and other institutional users.

Japan's agricultural imports (nearly $60 billion in 2013) make it the world's fourth-largest importer, after the United States, China, and the European Union (EU). Based on total calories consumed, Japan imports about 60 percent of its food each year.

Japan is the fourth-largest market for U.S. agriculture, accounting for $12.1 billion in U.S. exports in 2013. The United States is the leading agricultural supplier to Japan.

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