The U.S. Meat Export Federation released its weekly report on Sunday.
USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom discussed highlights from the latest red meat export results released by the USDA, which included new value records for total beef exports and beef variety meat.
?The November export results were, again, a lot of positive momentum on the beef side,? Halstrom said. ?Seven percent growth at 123,000 tons. Another billion-dollar month in terms of value. It?ll be a record for the year- well over 10 billion when we get to December stats. But an exciting thing on the beef side is the broad base growth. It?s the same thing we?ve talked about the last several months. Japan is up 15%, Korea 23%, China basically doubled the volume versus a year ago. You look at Central America, South America, and the Caribbean all showing significant growth despite some of the headwinds like these logistics issues. Beef variety meats definitely are important. Once again, another record and broad-based. We?re seeing Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East all contributing to this demand for beef variety meats.?
Halstrom also provided a summary of the latest pork export results.
?The November stats on pork, while down slightly, still had a very big month at 238,000 tons,? Halstrom said. ?Right now, we?re sitting at about even with a year ago- last year?s record. We?re up 7% on the value side at about 7.5 billion. We all knew China would be down. They?re down about 25% year-to-date. That trend continued in November, but it?s being offset. The market that?s leading the way on that is Mexico. We were up 34% for the month of November at 87,000 tons, so very close to the old record and with year-to-date, we will be setting a record.?
Halstrom added that Latin America was a highlight in the report.
?But really, the story is about Latin America,? Halstrom said. ?You got Central America and South America- led by Columbia. In November, the Asian market that?s leading the way, of course, is Korea. We have 24% growth there. One of the segments that?s leading this growth is chilled pork going into the retail sector, which is encouraging to see.?
You can visit usmef.org to learn more.
