August 18, 2010

US sees more beef exports to Mexico

The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is hopeful of an up-tick in beef exports to Mexico in the second half of this year after Mexico ended longstanding anti-dumping duties on US beef last week.

The tariff relief is retroactive to April 29 and duties paid since then will be refunded as part of the deal negotiated with Mexico by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the USMEF.

USMEF Spokesman Joe Scheule says the three to 30-cent per pound duties in a price sensitive market hurt imports of US beef and favoured pork and poultry imports. Now with the duties gone he says there's a chance for recouping some of the losses.

Longer term, Scheule said that the growth potential in Mexico is significant, noting numbers from 2008 when the US exported more beef to Mexico than they had exported to the world in 2005.

Numbers last year and so far this year have been down a bit, but he said that 2008 number showed potential for beef exports to Mexico. However, he does not expect US beef to reach that number again this year.

Meanwhile, US exported US$309-million worth of beef to Mexico through this past May, down from US$419 million for the same period last year. A weak Mexican economy and currency have also contributed to the recent lacklustre performance.