The United States exported 177,191 metric tons of pork and 94,524 metric tons of beef in October, year-over-year decreases of 2.8 percent and 14.0 percent, respectively.
U.S. pork, beef and lamb export volumes and value declined in October over last year, according to data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, which was compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Pork statistics refer to both pork and pork variety meat; beef statistics refer to both beef and beef variety meat; and lamb statistics refer to lamb, mutton and lamb variety meat.
For the month of October, the U.S. exported 177,191 metric tons of pork valued at $447.8 million, year-over-year drops of 2.8 percent and 21.0 percent, respectively.
The U.S. exported the highest volumes of pork to Mexico for the month at 59,766 metric tons, while Japan held the leading value market for pork exports at $117.2 million.
U.S. pork exports to Japan declined sharply in terms of tonnage and value for October and for the first 10 months of 2015. The USMEF projects that Japan’s decline in frozen inventories over the past several months could potentially stimulate future demand.
“Recent plant relistings will expand opportunities for U.S. pork in China, which is a high-volume market for variety meat. But the global pork variety meat market is intensely price-competitive, especially with very large volumes currently emerging from the European Union, which are further buoyed by the weak euro,” USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng said in a statement.
U.S. beef exports also experienced a weak October with the country’s export volumes totaling 94,524 metric tons, down 14.0 percent from October 2014. Beef export value for the month reached $508.2 million, a 26.0 percent year-over-year decline.
Mexico was the leading market for beef exports in terms of value and volumes for October. The U.S. exported 20,108 metric tons of beef to Mexico in October valued at $99.2 million.
U.S. beef exports to Japan, a primary export market for beef, declined significantly in terms of tonnage and value for October and for the first 10 months of the year.
“Japan’s total beef imports from all suppliers are down about 6 percent this year, but it is noteworthy that both Australia and Mexico have made gains in Japan while imports from other suppliers are down significantly,” Seng said. “Both countries enjoy lower tariffs in Japan through their respective economic partnership agreements, and the year-to-date results certainly show the importance of this advantage.”
For the month of October, U.S. lamb export volumes fell 3.4 percent year-over-year to 871 metric tons, in which 704 of the metric tons were exported to Mexico. Lamb export value fell 38.4 percent from October 2014 to $1.5 million.
U.S. meat exports struggle in October
