November 15, 2006

US pork exports up, imports down

As US pork exports entersits 15th consecutive year of growth, the heady increase for the past two years is showing signs of leveling off.

US pork exports for 2006 is expected to be up 10-12 percent, compared to 27 percent in 2004 and 22 percent in 2005.

Major growth markets for US pork exports this year are Russia, Mexico and South Korea. These three countries account for all of the net increase in 2006 US pork exports. Meanwhile, exports to Japan, the top importer of US pork, has seen a substantial decline.

The US exported 14 percent of its pork production during the first 9 months of this year.

Meanwhile, US pork imports reached its lowest level in 5 years, with figures for September down 14.5 percent from the year earlier, all of it attributable to the decline in Canadian exports.

January-September pork imports were down 1.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Low levels of slaughter in Canadian hogs has caused a fall in exports to the US.  Furthermore, the strong Canadian dollar hampered efforts to make Canadian hogs more marketable in the US market.

Imports accounted for a little less than 5 percent of US pork consumption in the first nine months of the year. 

However, the number of live hogs imported from Canada during the first 9 months of this year was up 7 percent compared to January-September 2005. There were more feeder pigs imported but fewer hogs.