July Pork Exports Continue Growth; Slow Month for Beef Exports
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Building on a robust first-half performance, July exports of U.S. pork continued to outpace year-ago levels, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Beef exports took a step back in July, posting the lowest volume since January, but export value per head of fed slaughter again exceeded $400.
July pork exports totaled 219,014 metric tons (mt), up 5% year-over-year, while export value increased 1% to $628.7 million. Exports to leading market Mexico continued on a record pace, while July shipments also increased significantly year-over-year to Central America, Taiwan, Oceania, the ASEAN region and Canada.
Through the first seven months of 2023, pork exports were 13% above last year’s pace at 1.69 million mt, valued at $4.67 billion (up 10%). This included record-large shipments of pork variety meat, which totaled 345,070 mt, up 28% from a year ago, valued at $812.7 million (up 19%).
As USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom notes in this Audio Report, pork export growth has been driven by market diversification.
On the beef side, July exports totaled 103,167 mt, down 18% from a year ago and the lowest in six months. Export value was $810.4 million, down 19% and the lowest since February. Halstrom notes that beef exports posted strong year-over-year gains in July to Taiwan and Mexico, and shipments were also higher to Canada, Hong Kong, Africa, Peru and Honduras. But July exports to the top three destinations for U.S. beef – South Korea, Japan and China – were well below last year’s large totals.
For January through July, beef exports trailed last year’s record pace by 11% in volume (772,343 mt) and 19% in value ($5.81 billion).