January 15, 2014

Record year for US meat and poultry exports lifts US soy demand

Despite a struggling global economy and trade barriers, 2013 was a record year for US poultry and livestock exports, which helped maintain a strong domestic demand for US soy, according to Illinois farmer and United Soy Board's director, David Hartke.

US poultry, egg and pork shipments exceeded previous highs for value and volume set in 2011. International beef sales dipped slightly in volume but broke the previous value record.

Soymeal constitutes a significant portion of animal feeds. Domestic animal agriculture uses about 97% of the domestic supply of US soymeal, making it the top customer of the local soy industry.

Poultry and hogs remain the biggest users of US soymeal. Statistics show poultry consumption is roughly 12.9 million tonnes annually, the meal from 16.4 million tonnes of soy, while hogs account for 6.8 million tonnes of US soymeal, the meal from 8.7 million tonnes of soy.

The soy checkoff partners with organisations like the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) and USA Poultry and Egg Export Council to market US meat and poultry abroad. The checkoff and USMEF are seeing success as they helped increase consumption of pork back ribs in Japan, at 4.5 million pounds from zero over the last three years.

Egg exports, table eggs and processed egg products in shell equivalents reached 274.1 million dozen, valued at US$263.7 million.