Bovine semen import kept growing
According to China Custom data, YTD Feb2022 a total of 1.87m ampules of bovine semen were imported. This is the first time the Chinese Government disclosed the quantity of imported frozen bovine semen. This represents a year over year annualized growth rate of 9%.
The Chinese Government has adjusted its reporting caliber and coverage, which is common practice across the world. In the past, Chinese reports only covered the weight and total monetary amount of bovine semen imports.
Total reported ampules of cryopreserved semen stood at a record high of 10.3million in 2021, and exceeded total number of 10 million, indicating a year over year increase of approximately 18% (2020: 8.72 million)
The chart below shows increasing imports of bovine semen to China over past years.
88% of frozen cattle semen was imported from the United States in Jan and Feb 2022
Out of a reported 1.87m ampules, 1.65m were from the United States. This accounted for 88% of all imports; 110k were from Germany, accounting for 6%; 37k were from the UK, accounting for 1.7%; 25k and 12k were from Italy and Argentina, accounting for 1.4% and 0.7% respectively.
2021 saw over 10m ampules of frozen semen imported for the first time
In 2021, the US exported over 9.17m ampules to China with year over year growth of 25.4%, representing 89% of China’s total import, the remainder of which 9% and 1.4% were met by EU and Australia respectively.
Semen for dairy cattle accounts for over 60% of total bovine semen imports. The on-going investment and dairy farm concentration are main driving forces behind these imports
From quality and quantity perspective, domestic frozen semen cannot meet Chinese demands which are boosted by fast industrialization and concentration.
As of 2021, new put-into-use dairy farms are able to accommodate 980k cattle, 83% new dairy farms in 2021 has dairy cow over 5000, 62% has dairy cow over10,000. Incremental 5.4million tonnes annual raw milk output will be in place when all projects finished, accounting for 15% of existing milk output. Concentrated operation and large cow demand will boost the bovine semen demand in foreseeable future.
