THE volume of imported meat and meat products rose 11.1% year on year to 1.02 billion kilograms (kg) in the seven months to July, driven by shipments of pork, the Bureau of Animal Industry reported.
Pork accounted for 541.41 million kilograms during the period, 10.3% higher than imports a year earlier.
Pork cuts amounted to 233.12 million kilograms, followed by offal (162.75 million), belly (77.44 million), fat (43.99 million), rind/skin (24.02 million), and whole hog (88,654).
The volume of chicken imports jumped 14.7% year on year to 335.67 million kilograms.
Mechanically deboned meat or mechanically separated chicken accounted for 195.37 million kilograms of the chicken imports, followed by chicken leg quarters (66.46 million), chicken cuts (51.17 million), chicken fat (10.97 million), rind/skin (4.43 million), whole chicken (3.67 million), and offal (3.60 million).
Meanwhile, beef imports declined 0.3% year on year to 110.57 million kilograms in the first seven months.
Buffalo imports rose 31.3% year on year to 32.56 million kilograms during the period. Duck shipments rose 894.7% to 845,917 kilograms.
Lamb imports rose 37.1% to 674,044 kilograms, while turkey imports fell 30% to 41,994 kilograms.
Brazil was the country’s top supplier of meat with 491.20 million kilograms, followed by the US (127.38 million) and Australia (54.11 million). — Marron Joshua F. Mendoza