Pork Exports Up, Beef Down

U.S. pork exports showed modest improvement in September while beef exports endured the most difficult month in some time, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

September pork export volume was up 6 percent from a year ago to 172,012 metric tons (mt). Export value was $456.1 million, down 11 percent year-over-year but the highest since May. Pork exports through the first nine months of the year declined 4 percent in volume (1.58 million mt) and 17 percent in value ($4.21 billion) compared to January-September 2014.

Beef export volume fell 21 percent from a year ago in September to 79,474 metric tons (mt) and value was down 28 percent to $456.6 million – the lowest since January. For the first nine months of 2015, exports were down 12 percent in volume (782,705 mt) and 8 percent in value ($4.8 billion).

Exports to Mexico, the leading volume destination for U.S. pork, fell slightly in volume in September but climbed 5 percent through the first nine months of the year to 529,798 mt, while export value fell 20 percent to $932.6 million.

September exports to Canada were the largest of 2015, though January-September volume was still down 5 percent to 148,669 mt and value was 13 percent lower at $589.9 million.

Japan remains the leading value market for U.S. pork, despite January-September value declining 18 percent year-over-year to $1.23 billion. Export volume to Japan was down 12 percent to 314,760 mt.

Beef export value in September equated to $233.80 per head of fed slaughter – down nearly $80 from a year ago. For January through September, per-head value was $280.46 – down $6.36 from the same period last year. Exports equated to 13 percent of total beef production and 10 percent for muscle cuts only – both down 1 percentage point from the first nine months of last year.

September exports to leading market Japan fell 34 percent in volume (15,386 mt) and 36 percent in value ($99.7 million) from a year ago. For the first nine months of the year, exports to Japan were down 12 percent in volume (161,961 mt) and 14 percent in value (just over $1 billion).

For January through September, U.S. lamb exports fell 17 percent in volume to 6,714 mt year-over-year and were down 32 percent in value to $14.3 million. Exports expanded to the Middle East — up 49 percent in volume to 271 mt and 2 percent in value to $874,000 — but declined to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation

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