U.S. Pork, Beef, and Lamb Export Success Continues, USMEF Reports
February 17, 2009In 2008, the international marketplace recorded double-digit increases over 2007 for U.S. pork, beef, and lamb products, according to statistics released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Pork achieved its 17th consecutive record-setting year of increased export numbers in 2008. For the month of December, total pork (pork plus variety meat) export volumes rose 19.7% over 2007, while export values rose 19.2%. For all of 2008, volume was up 57% to more than 2 million metric tons (4.5 billion pounds), and value was up 55% to nearly $4.9 billion.
U.S. beef exports saw gains of 10.8% in volume and 16.5% in value in December 2008 versus December 2007. For the calendar year, export volumes rose 28% to 984,712 metric tons (nearly 2.2 billion pounds), while values climbed 38% to $3.6 billion.
The value of lamb and mutton exports (plus variety meat) rose 44% to $25.3 million even as volume dropped 17% to 7,867 metric tons (17.3 million pounds).
The largest export market for U.S. pork, Japan, reported substantial gains: 16% and 28% increases in volume and value, respectively, for December 2008 versus December 2007, and 26% and 34% growth in volume and value for the year. Japan imported 451,853 metric tons (996.2 million pounds) of pork valued at $1.5 billion, accounting for 31.6% of total U.S. pork export value in 2008.
While there are ups and downs on a country-by-country basis, the key export markets for U.S. red meat continue to perform fairly consistently, according to USMEF Economist Erin Daley.
“Mexico continues to dominate as the largest market for U.S. beef, while Canada is consistent with the previous two months and the first quarter of 2008, although well below volumes seen in the second and third quarters of this year,” said Daley. “And exports to Japan are up 29% for December and 59% for the year in volume.”
Daley noted that Mexico, the largest U.S. pork market in December, set a monthly record with 48,151 metric tons (106.2 million pounds) valued at $77 million. This constituted a jump of 16% in volume over the prior month and a 77% increase over the previous December. For the year, Mexico was the third-largest destination for U.S. pork, registering a 43% hike in pork volume (396,609 metric tons or 874.4 million pounds) and a 54% jump in value (to $691 million).
She observed, however, that there are areas of concern for exports under current conditions.
“With 35 U.S. pork facilities delisted, exports to Russia could face a rough start in 2009, not to mention the challenging economic situation and the devaluation of the ruble,” Daley said. “The only good news is that Russia increased the United States’ tariff rate quota (TRQ) from 50,700 metric tons (111.8 million pounds) to 100,000 metric tons (220.5 million pounds) for 2009 — allowing an additional 49,300 metric tons (108.7 million pounds) to enter at 15 duty instead of the over-quota rate of up to 75% (not less than 1.5 euro/kg).”
In 2008, U.S. pork exports to Russia reached 217,767 metric tons (480.1 million pounds) valued at $476 million, increases of 118% in volume and 130% in value over 2007. In December, however, both the volume and value of pork exports were down sharply from the year before, reaching the lowest volume levels since December 2006.
Daley believes that China is another area that bears watching. The greater China/Hong Kong region emerged as the No. 2 market for U.S. pork in 2008, purchasing 399,562 metric tons (880.9 million pounds) valued at $689.4 million — increases of 136% in volume and 155% in value over 2007. She does think it is unlikely that China’s pork imports in 2009 will match last year’s record. Increased industry profitability last spring and hog raising subsidies are supporting a substantial expansion of China’s herd and lower hog and pork prices.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of the third quarter of 2008, China’s live hog inventory had increased 6.6% from the year-earlier figure, and the sow population increased 12.4%. Total marketed hogs increased 5.8% and meat production was up approximately 6%.
On the beef front, Daley noted that it is too soon to tell how issues raised by Canada and Mexico regarding Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will affect U.S. beef exports to those markets. She noted that they are by far the top two destinations for U.S. beef, accounting for 56% of the volume and 58.4% of the value of all U.S. beef exports in 2008.
Complete export statistics for U.S. beef, pork, and lamb are in the statistics section of the USMEF Web site.
