THE volume of meat imports increased 16.8% in the 10 months to October, driven by higher beef and pork shipments, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

The BAI tallied imports of 1.19 billion kilograms of meat during the 10 months, against 1.02 billion kilos a year earlier.

Meat Importers and Traders Association President Emeritus Jesus C. Cham said that imports continue to grow are on track to breach the 1.2 billion kilos of meat imports last year.

“All this has happened despite the volatility of the exchange rate, whose effect will be felt in the new year. With imports still arriving as seen from the utilization rate of the container yards and the slow rate of return of empties, the importers will take stock of the remaining inventory after the Christmas sales and hope the market will remain exuberant,” Mr. Cham said via Viber.

Making up 14% of total imports, beef shipments increased 38% during the period to 51.53 million kilos.

“Beef may end the year with a 50% increase. Clearly, we see the markets appreciating more the value of this red meat,” Mr. Cham added.

Beef from Brazil amounted to 70.86 million kilos, followed by Australia (44.02 million), and Ireland (14.5 million).

Shipments of pork rose 18.6% to 598.28 million kilos during the 10 months, accounting for about 50.2% of all meat imports during the period.

“With the exception of carcasses, all pork items performed strongly with pork meat growing at 25% but offal registering smaller growth at 12%,” he said.

He added that African Swine Fever continues to impact domestic pork production while the lower duty on pork meat is making offal less attractive.

Brazil supplied around 154.51 million kilos of pork, followed by Spain (144.45 million) and Canada (85.82 million).

Shipments of chicken totaled 389.95 million kilos during the period, up 8.6%. They accounted for 32.6% of meat imports.

Mr. Cham said that poultry imports could post an overall increase of 30%, amid higher shipments of chicken leg quarters and mechanically deboned meat.

Brazil remained the top supplier of chicken with 195.32 million kilos, followed by the US (126.91 million) and Canada (14.49 million).

Turkey imports more than tripled to 1.16 million kilos during the period, accounting for 0.10% of the total.

Shipments of buffalo, duck, and lamb continued to decline during the 10-month period.

Imports of duck fell 21.5% to 198,339 kilos, while lamb dipped 9.7% to 603,906 kilos, and buffalo fell 1.9% to 33.01 million. — Adrian H. Halili