THE world's largest importer of meat, China, has reopened its doors to Brazilian beef, although a new requirement has been put in place for slaughter animals under 30 months of age and all products to be boneless.
Buying interest for Australian beef from China is likely to pause for the next few weeks as China takes stock of what Brazil has to offer, according to international market analyst Simon Quilty, Global Agritrends.
Wholesale beef prices in China have already fallen $3000 Renminbi per tonne on the news, which equates to US$480 a tonne, he said.
The announcement seemed to surprise many, coming somewhat earlier than expected but Mr Quilty pointed out it perfectly suits Australia's Christmas shutdown.
Brazil has been cut out of the lucrative Chinese market for three months, after two separate cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in two of its southern states, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso.
Global media is reporting big Brazilian meatpacker shares have already jumped significantly since the announcement yesterday.
Minerva SA's shares lifted 8.1 per cent, JBS SA are up 3.3pc and BRF SA's are up 3.2pc.
Mr Quilty said the new requirements of 30 months and younger cattle was a reintroduction of an old policy and highlighted China's ongoing uncertainty about Brazil's BSE status.
"These are similar steps taken by other importing countries in the past after similar BSE bans and if history is a guide, these requirements could remain in place for several years," he said.
Global Agritrends data shows Brazil's beef exports in October and November more than halved, with total exports falling to 100,000 tonnes from the record months of August and September when shipments exceeded 200,000t.
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