Movements in Singapore beef trade

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Singapore is an important market for the Australian red meat industry, with demand largely driven by its sophisticated retail and foodservice sectors. The country is also commonly known as a key trading hub for the region, with recent data showing notable changes in its beef movements.

Beef imports up from Brazil

• Singapore imported 28,809 tonnes swt of beef in total during January to October this year, up 18% on the corresponding months last year.
• The largest supplier to the market was Brazil (up 30% to 11,756 tonnes swt), followed by Australia (down 9% to 9,162 tonnes swt).

Increase in exports to Indonesia

• Singapore exported 10,080 tonnes swt of beef during the same period, a surge of 86% on last year. Strong increases have been recorded in trade to Indonesia (up 120% to 6,182 tonnes swt) and Malaysia (52% higher, to 3,625 tonnes swt).
• Singapore’s beef offal exports (to all countries) also grew year-on-year to 13,455 tonnes swt, with a large increase in the frozen tongue trade (from only 131 tonnes swt in 2014, to 2,940 tonnes swt in 2015). The majority of tongue shipments were exported to Indonesia (Global Trade Atlas; International Enterprise Singapore).

Surge in demand for Australian beef offal

• While Australian beef exports to Singapore declined 12% year-on-year to 8,143 tonnes swt (January to November 2015), beef offal shipments jumped over 500%, to 12,761 tonnes swt, with 24% of the volume being tongue root and tongue manufacturing products.