October 23, 2007

US beef exports sustain its good performance

US beef exports continue its good run as it posted gains this year, according to Kansas State University Agriculture Economics Professor Jim Mintert.

Data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed August beef exports this year totalled 132.2 million pounds, up 24 percent from August 2006. Beef exports totalled 929.2 million pounds in the first eight months of this year, up 25 percent from the same period last year.

Mintert said beef imports through August were running about 3 percent ahead of the same period of 2006. The combination of increasing beef exports and modest gains in imports dropped net beef imports from January through August by 9 percent compared to 2006.

Although US beef exports have shown improvement, Mintert said there's still a long way to go before pre-BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) discovery levels are reached. Beef exports to all destinations for the January through August period were 46 percent below the same period in 2003 as exports to Japan were 83 percent below 2003.

Mintert predicted beef exports will show continued growth, but said it will take several years before 2003 levels are attained.