Meat is coming into Japan, but belatedly and in a roundabout way, trade observers told Meatingplace. As Tohoku region and Ibaraki Prefecture ports are unusable, cargo is diverted to ports in Tokyo, Yokohama and Chiba. As these are getting jammed, cargo will eventually be sent further south to ports in the Hanshin area. "Because of fuel shortages, it will be impossible to rapidly transport goods to the Tokyo area," Japan Meat Traders Association's Executive Director Tatsuo Iwama said.

A lot of cargo coming here faces the same problem. "It's not limited to meat," Iwama said. Aside from delays caused by diverted shipments, there are no specific problems with imported beef, U.S. Meat Export Federation's Japan director for trade projects and trade communications said. "There is a rumor that the price of tongue of any origin is now facing reduction due to lack of demand in the region of Sendai (the capital of the hardest-hit Miyagi Prefecture), where tongue is a local specialty," Susumu Harada said.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand's Japan and South Korea market manager said as far as he is aware, no New Zealand meat products have been prevented from being landed in Japan. "However, I understand that, as some vessels are, because of radiation fears, refusing to enter into the Tokyo/Yokohama area, at least some New Zealand product is having to be trans-shipped through ports in neighboring countries such as Busan in South Korea," Tokyo-based John Hundleby said. Hundleby said the main constraints on beef and other meat distribution are gasoline shortages and electricity outages. "The electricity problem looks as if it will be with us for quite some time," Hundleby said.

Hundleby said according to the trade media, the three prefectures most affected by the earthquake and tsunami, Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate, collectively account for 9.9 percent of Japan's cattle, 9.1 percent of its pigs and 18.4 percent of its chickens. No shortage of meat has been reported but apparently, more product is being moved around. From March 14 to 18, there was a 28 percent fall in the number of cattle but a 38 percent increase in the number of pigs handled at the Tokyo Wholesale Market. The increase in the number of pigs reportedly resulted from animals being sent from wholesale markets in the Tohoku region which, because of damage or lack of electricity, were unable to process the animals, Hundleby said.

For the duration damaged Japan ports will be unusable, emergency cargo transport will be effected by sea or land from non-disaster to disaster areas and vice-versa. Gasoline and other fuels are being sent by tank trucks to alleviate shortages, the coastal administration and disaster management division's risk management director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism' ports and harbors bureau said. "We are removing obstacles on the harbors' transportation routes," Hiromi Kado said.

Fourteen major ports in five Japanese prefectures were damaged by the March 11 earthquake of a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale and follow-up 33-foot high tidal wave that devastated the Tohoku region, the northeastern part of Japan's central island of Honshu. Four of the ports are in Ibaragi, four in Iwate, three in Miyagi, two in Fukushima and one in Aomori. The disaster caused over 11,000 deaths and several thousands more injured or missing. Since it struck, eastern Japan has been plagued by transportation disruption, gasoline rationing, power outages, food shortages and the threat of a meltdown at a Fukushima Prefecture nuclear power plant. "I don't know how gasoline rationing and planned power outages are affecting ports," Kado said.

But getting product to destination shows