China

Covid-19 crisis has wiped out 40% of beef import companies in China

Beef

In February, there were only 300 firms involved in beef imports this year, 200 less than the number reported at the beginning of the year.

Posted on Mar 24 ,11:36

The second month of 2020 came with a huge challenge for meat importers in China, not only due to logistic jams in the ports but also with the impossibility to deliver the goods in cities that have been lockdown. Among beef importers in China, covid-19 crisis led to a wipeout of 40% of the companies involved in this trade. According to official statistics, in February 2020, a total of 294 Chinese companies participated in frozen beef imports, while there were 500 Chinese companies in January 2020.
In February 2020, China imported a total of 122,914 tonnes of frozen beef, decreasing by 21% compared to the previous month, but increasing by 41% Year-on-Year (YoY). And the corresponding import value was about $688 million, 22% lower than the value reported in January but 73% up from February 2019.
Since the beginning of March, China has signaled that port congestion is over. Nevertheless, imports are expected to be impacted by the pandemic covid-19 situation. Some studies and reports suggest this could take several months for China to be back at full economic activity. Other reports fear a second wave of coronavirus later in the year could halt progress once more.

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