Frozen Beef
Stranded at China Sea After China Shuts Out Brazil
Zhang
Lian has 270 tons of frozen Brazilian beef on a ship
steaming toward Shanghai that he may not be able to get through customs when
the vessel arrives next month.
Zhang’s Shanghai Yadongsheng
Import-Export Ltd. trades $200 million of meat annually, part of the global
supply chain that keeps China fed. Brazil is the world’s largest beef and
chicken exporter, accounting for almost a fifth of global exports
The crisis arose after Brazilian authorities announced
on March 17 they’re investigating evidence food producers bribed government
officials to approve the sale of spoiled meat. Prosecutors said some sausages
and cold cuts contained animal parts such as pig heads, and that there were
cases where cardboard was added to meat products or acid used to mask the smell
of tainted meat.
It takes a month or more for meat from Brazil to reach
Asian ports, so cargoes already loaded are now in limbo. China, including Hong
Kong, is the biggest export market for Brazilian meat, buying about a third of
the $5.5 billion of beef shipped from Latin America’s largest economy last
year, according to the meat exporters group Abiec.
Hong Kong said on Tuesday that it has also temporarily
suspended the import of frozen, chilled and poultry meat from Brazil. The city
is a major transshipment point for meat and other goods into China.
Zhang said a government order told his company that
from March 19, China customs should stop accepting all Brazilian meat imports
for inspection, and cargoes already accepted for inspection should not be
opened. Importers can choose to leave refrigerated containers plugged in at the
port until further notice.
In
Brazil, the nation’s biggest meatpackers are trying to limit damage from the
probes.
Brazil’s President Michel Temer
tried to reassure export customers by hosting an all-you-can-eat steak dinner
on Sunday for ambassadors of major buyers. The Chinese envoy sat next to him at
the restaurant.
Brazilian meat may not be so easy for customers to
identify. One importer, whose suppliers include JBS, said Brazilian beef tends
to be about 10 percent to 20 percent cheaper than other imports, so is mostly
sold to factories for food processing. The fresh steaks sold in supermarkets
and restaurants are generally not from Brazil, he said.
Chilled meat needs to get from meatpacker to consumer
in about 70 days and meat shipped from Brazil uses more than half that time at
sea, according to Asian shippers. Inspection times at the receiving port are
usually four or five days, but can take two weeks for a thorough examination.
Agricultural products that do not pass customs inspections are typically burned
at the port, the shippers said.