Meat and Livestock Australia reports that imports fell as the market continued to be challenged by the slow economy, coupled with the impact on consumer spending from the very hot summer.

While imports from Australia during July declined by 16pc year-on-year to 29,574t, US volumes also declined, falling 12pc to 8549t.

This was the first year-on-year fall in US beef volumes since Japan resumed imports in July 2006.

In the Australian beef export market, Japanese buyers remained cautious with their commitments, while export prices to Japan in Australian dollar terms declined from last week due to the higher A$.

Trimmings continued to attract reasonable demand from Japan, but some frozen items were diverted to other markets, such as Russia, due to Japanese bids being below expectations.