January 18, 2010

US pork and beef exports continue rebound

US meat exports during November continued their rebound from the slump earlier in the year, with pork exports reaching their highest level of 2009 while beef exports edged 4% above year-ago levels, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Total pork exports for November reached 169,547 tonnes, even with the volume for November 2008. This marked the first time monthly pork exports have reached or exceeded 2008 levels since March 2009.

Total beef exports for the month reached 76,693 tonnes with muscle cuts up 23% over year-ago levels while variety meat slipped 27%.

However, total US beef and pork exports remain behind 2008 levels. For the first 11 months of 2009, the US exported 819,778 tonnes of beef valued at more than US$2.8 billion and 1.7 million tonnes of pork valued at nearly US$4 billion.

Beef is down 10% in volume and 16% in value compared to 2008 while pork is down 10% in volume and 13% in value.