Inflation, high production costs and a weakened U.S. dollar are all factoring...

Inflation, high production costs and a weakened U.S. dollar are all factoring into opportunities for U.S. red meat exports to the Asia Pacific region, as Joel Haggard, U.S. Meat Export Federation senior vice president for the region reported to federation members Monday (Oct. 29) at the USMEF Global Outlook and Symposium in Washington, D.C.

Haggard said economic factors like the currency exchange rate of the yuan in China have propelled regional and global trade.

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Haggard said the sharp rise of pork prices in China were the first signal that inflation may be setting into the rapidly growing country.

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In fact, high feed grain prices are squeezing domestic livestock producers in China.

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However, economic growth in China has increased meat consumption, alleviating some of the hardship on local farmers and boosting U.S. pork exports to China.

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One country that has not experienced as much growth as China, but has endured higher production costs is Taiwan. As a result, pork consumption has declined, making the situation more dismal.

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And in South Korea, U.S. beef remains competitive due to price although the United States is working to secure viable market access. Meanwhile, the affordable price of U.S. pork makes it more competitive, especially to Australia, a large pork exporter to Korea.

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The Global Outlook Symposium was held in conjunction with the annual USMEF Strategic Planning Conference.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, lamb, corn, sorghum and soybean checkoff programs.

– USMEF –