SYDNEY (Kyodo) The price of imported Australian beef fell for the second consecutive week amid market turbulence triggered by the detection of mad cow disease in the United States.
Meat and Livestock Australia said Friday in its weekly livestock market report that the price of chilled beef from grass-fed cattle fell 11.3 percent to $1.80 per pound from $2.03 last week. The price is down 25 percent from the $2.40 logged two weeks ago.
The international beef market has been in a spin since Dec. 23, when a Holstein in the U.S. state of Washington was found to be infected with mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Japan immediately banned imports of U.S. beef; more than 30 countries have since followed suit.
"The discovery of BSE in a U.S. cow late last year, the rising Australian dollar and the severity of the recent Australian drought have combined to produce a dynamic and somewhat distorted trading environment for beef and cattle in the short term," the MLA said.
Despite the latest price plunge, Australian beef prices are forecast to settle above last year's levels while the U.S. ban is imposed, the report says.
"However, prices are likely to fall sharply once the U.S. regains access to major export markets," it says.
The U.S. beef ban has had a massive effect on Japan's food industry.