Japanese Wagyu Markets Summary January 2016

‘Kobe’ and ‘Tajima’ achieve initial GI approval

As expected, the descriptor ‘Kobe Beef’ has been afforded GI (Geographical Indicator) protection under Japan’s revised 2015 GI legislation (See December Japan Update on this site). The descriptor ‘Tajima’ has also been granted GI status in Japan. Both descriptors are now to be used exclusively in association with Wagyu beef produced within Hyogo Prefecture.

The impact is similar to ‘champagne’ nomenclature protection in the EU and broader international markets, and means that producers in other prefectures will not be able to use these descriptors for local Wagyu beef products. The descriptor Tajima is drawn from a key historical Wagyu production district of rural Hyogo, while Kobe is a leading international Wagyu beef brand sourced from the Hyogo city of the same name. The GI status is readily achieved in Hyogo as this is now the only Japanese prefecture with an entirely ‘own breeding’ closed herd. The Government of Japan is expected to apply for the international extension of local GI protection for the two Wagyu trade names in key markets around the world from 2016. Other initiatives appear likely.

New Japanese Wagyu Marketing, Web Sites, Packing Facilities and Export Targets

In complementary activity, the Government of Japan has established two new English-language web sites providing information on Japanese produced Wagyu beef and related systems.
See: http://jlec-pr.jp/beef.html and http://jlec-pr.jp/beef/control-system.html.

Key messages in the ramping campaign include:

Japanese Wagyu Beef is 100% traceable
Japanese Wagyu is graded by the Japanese Meat Grading System (JMGA) which is more reliable any competitive grading regime
Resultantly, Japanese Wagyu quality is more consistent than that from any other source

Historical and target export tonnages ex Japan have been published as follows, with projections of an export doubling in the next four years:

2012 – 863MT
2013 – 909MT
2014 – 1251MT
2016 – 1800MT (Prediction)
2020 – 4000MT (Prediction)

To support the export drive, the Government of Japan has now licensed export packaging facilities for individual national markets as follows:

USA – 10 (facilities)
Canada – 8
Hong Kong – 10
UAE – 2
Macao – 58
Thai – 52
EU – 4
Mexico – 7
Philippine – 7
Myanmar – 34
Singapore – 10
Vietnam – 57

January 2015 Japanese Calf and Carcass Results

Overview: The Japanese calf market remains very strong due to lack of calf numbers with carcass prices driving high demand for replacement cattle.

Calf Market Report – Japanese Black – Dec 2015

	Heifer Calf				Steer Calf
Market	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg
Hokkaido (Tokachi)	555	633822	312	2155	867	727949	320	2245
Miyagi	550	685584	293	2340	691	792756	324	2446
Hyogo (Tajima)	151	855331	226	3780	167	1038436	241	4311
Hyogo (Awaji)	189	823509	239	3448	205	1061593	258	4111
Miyazaki (Kobayashi)	601	649478	281	2211	662	744271	299	2460
Kagoshima	572	675755	272	2481	720	771341	302	2552

Calf Market Report – Japanese Red Nov 2015

	Heifer Calf				Steer Calf
Market	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg
Hokkaido	278	351000	310	1133	97	416000	329	1265
Kumamoto	73	587520	290	2028	93	651716	304	2144

F1 (Wagyu X Holstein) Calf Market Nov-15

	Heifer Calf				Steer Calf
Market	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg	No Head	Avg Price JPY	Weight	Price/kg
Hokkaido (Tokachi)	1080	364443	307	1187	1251	445502	316	1410

Carcass Market Report -Tokyo

Oct-15	(JPY/kg Carcass)
	(JB) Wagyu Female			(JB) Wagyu Steer
	A5	A4	A3	A5	A4	A3
Oct-15	2688	2430	2344	2659	2429	2335
Oct-14	2314	2103	1974	2387	2112	1991

	F1 Female			F1 Steer
	B4	B3	B2	B4	B3	B2
Oct-15	1855	1741	1635	1852	1750	1650
Oct-14	1558	1412	1312	1559	1432	1326

The Japanese carcass market was also very strong going into the end of a year of high beef demand. There are only small gaps between grade and the price was be expected to rise into the Dec’15 trade.

2015 National Carcass Competition in Tokyo

Grand Champion – MATSUNAGA FARM (Shimane)
- Sire – MITSUHIRATERU
- DAM’s SIRE – YASUFUKUHISA
- DAM’s G/SIRE – KITAGUNI 7-8
- AGE – 30 month
- Carcass Weight – 575kg
- REA – 130cm³
- BMS No.– 12
- Carcass Grade – A5
- Yield = 71.4%
- Price – JPY 6,948,875