CME: December Pork, Beef Exports Higher in 2010

US - The latest beef, pork and poultry data from the US Census Bureau were released on Friday, write Steve Meyer and Len Steiner.
calendar icon 14 February 2011
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Please note that the summary (please see link below) references product weight and as a result the year over year comparisons may be a bit different than the carcass weight equivalent supply which will be reported by ERS on Monday.

Beef: Total beef exports in December 2010 were 73,447 MT, 18,403 MT or 33 per cent larger than the previous year. As the chart to the right shows, the increase in exports was due to broad based growth to a number of markets. Mexico and Canada remain the top two markets for US beef, accounting for 21 per cent and 20 per cent of US beef shipments in December, respectively. Beef exports to Mexico were reported to be 15,213 MT, 5 per cent lower than the previous year. Shipments to Canada, on the other hand, were 14,537 MT, 51 per cent larger than the previous year and accounting for almost a third of the overall increase in beef exports for the month. Japan and South Korea used to be the two primary markets for US beef (prior to the BSE outbreak) and they are quickly gaining in importance. December exports to S. Korea, which has been devastated by FMD disease, were 9,825 MT, 39 per cent higher than a year ago. Exports to Japan at 7,662 MT were 59 per cent higher than a year ago. Hong Kong also has emerged as a significant market for US beef, largely due to limited supplies from Brazil. Exports to Hong Kong in December were 5,914 MT, 132 per cent higher than a year ago.

Pork: US pork exports in December were notably higher than a year ago, the second consecutive month of year over year increases in pork exports. Total shipments were reported at 136,610 MT, 10.1 per cent higher than a year ago. Most major markets showed good growth in December. Mexico has once again emerged as the main market for US pork with December shipments reported at 41,126 MT, 5 per cent higher than a year ago and the largest pork volume ever shipped for any given month to this market. Exports to Japan also continue to grow and at 35,985 MT they were 14 per cent higher than a year ago. S. Korea greatly increased its purchases of US pork in December and at 9,480 MT exports to this market were 60 per cent larger than a year ago. Exports of pork variety meats in December were 46,834 MT, 21 per cent higher than a year ago. More than 80 per cent of the US pork variety meat exports in December went to three destinations, Mexico, China and Hong Kong. Indeed, China/HK market has emerged as a big buyer of US pork variety meats, with total December exports of 24,711 MT, a 45 per cent increase from year ago levels.

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.
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