June 30, 2010

US beef exports may jump to US$3.7 billion this year, as demand for the meat increases in Asia, said an economist with the Denver-based US Meat Export Federation.

According to Erin Daley, the volume of US beef exports may increase by 12% to one million tonnes (2.2 billion pounds). Shipments were valued at US$3.08 billion last year.

Beef demand in Asia is increasing as countries recover from recession and ease trade restrictions imposed following the 2003 discovery of mad cow disease in the US. South Korea, which resumed imports of some US beef in June 2008, has boosted purchases by 86% this year from 2009. Overall US beef exports this year may still trail 2003 volume by 3%.

"This year exports have been tremendous. Recovery in US exports has continued to go back toward 2003 volumes," Daley said.

The US has lost about US$14 billion since 2004, when countries including Korea and Japan curtailed US beef imports after mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, broke out in the US, according to the Meat Export Federation. Scientists say humans who eat certain parts of infected animals may contract variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, a similar brain- wasting ailment.

US shipments of beef-muscle-cuts may increase 17% this year, while beef-variety-meat exports will be steady. In the first four months of 2010, the US exported 11 percent of its beef production.

Demand for US beef also may increase as competitors including Argentina and Canada cut production, she said. Of the world's top 10 beef producers, only Brazil, India and Mexico are expanding output this year.