December 17, 2010

US beef exports continue growth in October

US beef exports continued to increase, despite US beef production being relatively stable in 2010, with volumes during October jumping 18% on-year, to 94,172 tonnes hundredweight - the highest monthly volume since August 2008, according to the USDA.

From January to October this year, US beef exports have increased 22%, to 844,417 tonnes cwt - edging closer to pre-BSE export levels in 2003 of 984,376 tonnes cwt. Contributing to this rise has been an increase in shipments to Japan (up 32%), Canada (up 5%), and Korea (up 119%).

While US beef exports to Korea started 2010 slowly, they picked up significant pace from March onwards, with exports for January to October totalling 101,348 tonnes cwt. The very weak US dollar continues to assist growth to most exports markets, particularly to traditional north Asian markets.

In contrast to the Asian markets in 2010, US beef exports to Mexico, the US' largest market, have fallen consistently throughout the past two years. Between January and October, US beef exports to Mexico declined 14%, to 184,265 tonnes cwt. The combined impact of the weak Mexican peso and economy continues to hamper demand and opportunities for US beef in the market.

The latest USDA forecasts for US beef exports in 2011 have been revised slightly higher, to 1.04 million tonnes cwt. Higher than expected economic growth and demand from major export markets in 2011 has contributed to the revised exports volumes.