May 13, 2004

March US Pork Muscle Meat Exports Up 39%; YTD Total Up 30%

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday reported March pork muscle meat exports were up 39% from a year ago, exceeding the pace of the first two months and resulting in a year-to- date increase of 30%.

The volume of pork muscle meats shipped during March was listed at 68,086 metric tons, versus 48,971 tons a year ago. The sales value was $160.152 million, an increase of $41.726 million, or 35.2%, for the month.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation posted the USDA data on its Web site this afternoon. The March export total for all pork and pork variety meats was at 91,274 metric tons, up 47.7% from a year ago. The year-to-date figure was 239,494 tons, 37% above a year ago.

U.S. pork export sales are being helped by the import bans on North American beef following the discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in Canada in May of 2003 and another in the U.S. in December.

Nearly all of the U.S. trading partners banned imports of U.S. beef following the Dec. 23 discovery. Mexico, which initially banned U.S. beef, has since eased the ban and allows in some products.

Much of the increase in pork export sales has gone to Mexico, despite its having eased the beef ban, plus Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Russia, the Caribbean and Central American countries.

Source: USDA