July 18, 2005

US pork exports find healthy market share
 

US pork exports to Mexico have risen 39.8 percent from 2002 to reach 361,587 tonnes in 2004, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

The value of US pork exported to Mexico has also increased from US$252 million to US$567 million, with US pork currently holding 85 percent of the Mexican pork import market. This is an increase from the 80 percent market share in 2002 and 2003 and up 82 percent from last year, according to USMEF.

So far, 103,058 tonnes of US pork have been exported into Mexico in the first four months of this year. Beef exports for the same period, however, lagged comparatively at 76,639 tonnes, though US beef export earnings to Mexico are still stronger at US$236 million compared with pork's US$159 million.

Global exports of US pork also performed well at a record 1.02 million tonnes in volume or US$2.23 billion in value terms last year, an increase of 35 percent and 41 percent respectively from 2003.

But US beef's global performance has been poor, due to closed export markets caused by the BSE situation in the US since December 2003. Volume exported was down at 321,967 tonnes in 2004, a drastic drop of 75 percent from the previous year.

USMEF clarified that US pork's increasing popularity worldwide had nothing to do with the closure of certain US beef export markets such as Japan and Taiwan.

The federation's media communications manager, Cheryl Kamenski, pointed out that US pork is in fact finding more success in markets that still import US beef in 2004. Pork exports were up 44 percent in these markets, compared with just 27 percent in those closed to US beef.

"This dispels the idea that US pork's success is found in markets that are closed to US beef," Kamenski said. "US pork's success cannot be solely attributed to the fact that many markets are closed to US beef."

It would appear that USMEF's efforts to promote US pork as a healthy red meat in export countries have paid off. USMEF first started a Pork Quality Assurance Program in 1989 to standardise good management practices and encourage US pork producers to respond to increasing consumer demand for leaner pork by changing their feeding and breeding techniques.

USMEF estimates that US pork now has 31 percent less fat than 20 years ago, with many cuts of pork as lean as skinless chicken.