February 20, 2012

 

 

American beef and pork dollar value exports to Canada are anticipated to hit a new record for 2011.

 

The Canadian market has proven to be the most valuable for US beef exporters in 2011 thanks to rising beef prices and added volumes, the US Meat Export Federation said in a recent report.

 

The federation released export information for the January to November period in 2011 and Canada was the leading value destination for US beef exports. In the 11-month period export volumes to Canada went up by 27% to 174,122 tonnes and the value of those exports soared by 43% to US$940.5 million. When the trade figures for December are made available the USMEF expects the total value of the beef trade with Canada to push past the US$1 billion mark.

 

The strong export figures with Canada mirrored the overall trend in US beef exports last year which is expected to help drive the total value of beef exports past the US$5 billion mark for the first time. In the January to November period US exporters sold 1.17 billion tonnes of beef in export markets.

 

Those exports accounted for a rising share of total US beef production with the export value per slaughter animal rising to US$204.27 per head, up more than US$50 from the previous year.

 

The buoyant export trade in beef is partly explained by a weak US dollar, which has made American exports more competitive in international markets and the re-emerging access to markets that were once restricted or closed by BSE related trade barriers. US exporters also made inroads in non-traditional markets like the Middle East, Russia and Latin America.

 

Beef sales abroad are also benefiting from a revaluation of meat and plant protein sources that have moved prices higher in major markets around the world. Red meat protein, fish protein and plant protein sources have all been commanding higher prices in the last few years.

 

US cattle futures recently hit all-time highs in Chicago thanks to tightening beef supplies, an influx of non-farm money hedging bets on the beef trade and the prospect of a long export trade in beef.

 

The USDA also recently reported retail beef prices in the US hit a new record high that averaged US$5.01 per pound in December. Cattle numbers in both Canada and the US are expected to be smaller when information agencies in both countries report livestock numbers for January 1, 2012. The tight beef supply pipeline has also served to benefit other red meat sources like pork, where US export values have been soaring.

 

Canada has also proven to be an important market for US pork exports in 2011. The USMEF said sales of pork to Canada soared to a new record value of US$673.8 million with volumes up by 14% to a new record of 188,250 tonnes in the January to November period.

 

Pork exports from the US to global markets moved forward at a torrid pace in 2011 with the export federation predicting the value of sales growing past the US$6 billion mark for the first time ever and more than US$1 billion higher than in the previous year.

 

In the January-November period US pork exporters sold 2.04 million tonnes of pork valued at US$5.52 billion. The figure is expected to push past the US$6 billion mark when the December figures are added to the total. The export value of pork from the US last year hit US$55.21 per slaughter animal, up about US$12 per head over last year's levels.

 

The USMEF also reported last week that US lamb exports hit a record value in the first 11 months of 2011. Exporters sold almost 17,000 tonnes of lamb valued at US$27.7 million in export markets, with strong export performance reported in the Canadian and Mexican markets. Lamb export volumes jumped in the 11-month period by 79%, the USMEF said.

 

The red meat export market could prove even more buoyant in 2012 as more markets open up to beef exports from Canada and the US. South Korea was the latest country to open its doors to Canadian beef exports while Japan is on the verge of opening its markets to imports of beef from animals less than 30-months of age, a move that could further boost beef exports from both Canada and the US.