BMC eyes beef exports to China
Isaac Pinielo | Friday May 8, 2015 15:13
This is part of the Commission’s continued endeavour towards diversifying from a reliance on the European Union (EU) and South Africa markets for exports.
More than 70 percent of BMC’s beef exports are sold in the lucrative EU market. The second most important BMC market after the EU is South Africa.
Other markets are Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Hong Kong, Thailand, Kuwait and Ghana. However, the commission is now seeking to diversify exports to China.
Speaking to BusinessWeek on Tuesday, BMC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Akolang Tombale said the commission has submitted its general certificate to the Chinese government and that negotiations are at an advanced stage to start exporting beef products to that country. With one-fifth of the world’s population, China is the largest global market for fresh meat. From a global perspective, China is the 33rd largest importer of beef and veal products.
In recent years, China increased beef and beef product imports by more than half a million metric tonnes. With a strong and growing demand for beef in China, Tombale said the BMC stands to gain significantly from an access agreement for Botswana beef to China. He also revealed that the commission would mainly supply offal products, such as tripe, to China as it is the biggest consumer. Offal refers to any of the internal organs and entrails of an animal.
“China would be a very attractive market for beef offal because of premium prices paid for tripe and offal products.
We want to capitalise on that country’s high demand and consumption of these products,” he pointed out. Statistics show that the offal prices rose by more than 65 percent from $700 (P6, 800) to nearly $1150 (P11, 200) per tonne in the international market.
In addition to selling to China, Tombale said the BMC would also explore the Russian market, adding that discussions have already started.
He noted that the commission will increase its exports to the large Hong Kong market and will also increase volumes of beef to the Middle East.
In 2013, the BMC exported 18,545 tonnes of beef of which 5,991 went to the EU, compared to 20,573 tonnes in 2012 of which 750 were EU-bound. Meanwhile, the BMC boss noted that although the commission has managed to return to profitability, it is still laden with debts.
The commission’s debt currently stands at P769 million, the major portion being the P569 million granted to it during the 18 month EU delisting period from 2011, when there was virtually no production.