Trade in live cattle and beef meat at world and EU levels: productive and commercial trajectories for the main countries involved

Abstract

The increase in beef consumption in several Asian countries is helping to strengthen competitive games between the world's leading beef exporters, including Australia, India, Brazil and the United States. The main importers of beef and veal, including the United States, China (with Hong-Kong), Japan and Russia, have different trajectories that depend on changes in domestic demand for beef and veal, sanitary conditions in supplier countries and sometimes geopolitical issues. The European Union, which is experiencing both a decline in its production and consumption of beef, is not a major player in international trade in this sector. Domestic demand is largely satisfied by European products, but significant flows of live cattle and beef take place between Member States. Using the available customs databases both on a global scale (Comtrade and Baci) and the European Union (Comext), this article proposes an analysis on the evolution of the productive and commercial situation of the main players in the beef cattle sector for the period 2000 to 2015.