Beef Exports Off to Solid Start in 2011
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January exports of U.S. beef were well above year-ago levels, though a step back from the totals recorded in December, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program.
In 2010, U.S. beef exports cracked the $4 billion mark for the first time and showed no indications of slowing in 2011. In fact, Mexico was the only major market to post a decline in 2010, as it struggled to recover from the global economic slump, but showed renewed momentum in the fourth quarter of the year. This trend continued in January, as export volume (44.6 million pounds) to Mexico was slightly below last year, but export value ($74.9 million) grew by 18 percent.
In other export action kicking off 2011:
- Canada solidified its position as the No. 2 market for U.S. beef, with January exports up 17 percent in volume (28.5 million pounds) and surging one-third in value to $63.1 million.
- Despite limited market access, U.S. beef continued to make strides in Japan, with exports rising nearly 70 percent both in volume and value to nearly 21 million pounds valued at $47.2 million.
- Exports to Korea continued to show remarkable strength, increasing 63 percent in volume (26.4 million pounds) and 81 percent in value ($49.2 million) over January 2010.
- Despite political and social unrest in the Middle East, exports to the region grew more than 50 percent in volume to about 25.7 million pounds and nearly doubled in value to $25.4 million. Exports to Egypt, the region’s largest market, rose 55 percent in volume and 134 percent in value. Results were mixed for the region’s other two major markets – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – with exports to Saudi Arabia were up 12 percent in volume and 53 percent in value. Export volume to the UAE was down 18 percent, but it still achieved a slight value increase of 4 percent.
- Exports to Hong Kong surged 156 percent in volume (11.5 million pounds) and 168 percent in value ($22.5 million), despite the continued restriction of U.S. beef to boneless muscle cuts only.
- Exports to Russia dipped slightly in volume to about 6 million pounds but grew 40 percent in value to $5.4 million, as Russia continues to show a growing appetite for U.S. muscle cuts.
- Taiwan was the only major market to show a year-over-year decline in U.S. beef demand in January, with exports dropping 14 percent in volume to 5.6 million pounds and 4 percent in value to $16.8 million. This was primarily due to Taiwan’s sudden change in testing for ractopamine residues, which created a very uncertain environment for importers there. USMEF expects the decline in export activity to Taiwan to be even more pronounced in February, as the two countries continue to work on resolving the testing issue.
“U.S. beef continues to make remarkable strides across the globe, despite some major obstacles,” USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng said. “It is very gratifying to see demand in Mexico recovering, as that was the one piece of the puzzle that was missing throughout much of 2010.”
Despite widespread news reports suggesting that foot-and-mouth disease is driving U.S. beef exports to Korea, USMEF-Korea Director Jihae Yang says it is simply a case of consumer demand for U.S. beef achieving a sustained and significant recovery.
“The Korean FMD cases did not significantly harm the domestic cattle industry,” she explained. “The Korean government culled less than 5 percent of the cattle population, so there is still plenty of domestic beef available in this market. Demand for U.S. beef was in recovery long before the FMD crisis started, so FMD is not the major factor driving the increase in U.S. beef exports.”
For more information about checkoff-funded foreign marketing efforts, including export statistics, go to Foreign Marketing.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.
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