USA

USMEF: August beef exports below last year

Beef

August beef exports totaled 109,000 mt, down 19% from last year – when export volume was the second highest on record – but a 6% increase over July. Export value was $883.9 million, down 15% year-over-year but 9% above July. For January through August, beef exports trailed last year’s record pace by 12% in volume (881,343 mt) and 19% in value ($6.69 billion).

Posted on Oct 10 ,00:10

"Beef exports certainly face significant headwinds, especially in our large Asian markets where foodservice has been slow to recover and consumer confidence is low due to the impact of rising prices and the strong U.S. dollar", said USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom. "But exports to South Korea and Japan did bounce back to some degree after a difficult July. Mexico continues to be a major bright spot for U.S. beef, and exports to other Western Hemisphere partners in Central and South America and the Dominican Republic also gained momentum in August".

U.S. beef exports to Mexico continued to trend higher in August, with shipments increasing 16% from a year ago to 18,674 mt. Export value increased even more dramatically, climbing 35% to $110.9 million – the highest since December 2020. Through August, beef exports to Mexico were 17% above last year at 136,508 mt, valued at $773.5 million (up 25%).

Beef exports to Guatemala were the second highest on record in August (1,038 mt, including nearly 1,000 mt of muscle cuts), propelling shipments to Central America to 1,774 mt, an increase of 42% from a year ago. Export value reached $12.1 million, up 33%. Through August, exports to the region were down 4% in volume (13,261 mt) and 6% in value ($91.5 million), but exports trended higher to Guatemala and increased sharply to Honduras and Nicaragua.

Beef exports to the Dominican Republic trended higher in August at 883 mt, up 6%, while value increased 28% to $11.7 million. Through August, exports to the DR were up 6% to 6,527 mt, while value climbed 12% to $73.2 million. With shipments also increasing to the Bahamas and the Netherlands Antilles, January-August exports to the Caribbean increased 5% in value to $170.9 million, despite a 6% decline in volume (18,140 mt).

Other January-August results for U.S. beef exports include:

Although August beef exports to Taiwan were down 7% from a year ago to 5,611 mt, export value was steady at $65.4 million. Following a slow start to the year, exports to Taiwan rallied in the summer months to pull within 7% of last year’s record volume at 44,701 mt. January-August export value was down 21% to $445.2 million.
August beef exports to Japan were well below last year’s large totals but showed improvement compared to July. Exports reached 21,106 mt, down 19% from a year ago, valued at $174.1 million (down 8%). Through August, exports to Japan were down 20% in volume (169,500 mt) and 25% in value ($1.25 billion). The yen has been struggling versus the U.S. dollar for some time, and this situation worsened recently as the yen slipped back to its October 2022 low (150 per dollar). This, along with rising treasury yields in the U.S., heightened speculation that the Bank of Japan will tighten its monetary policy in an effort to strengthen the yen.
While beef exports to South Korea are below last year’s record pace, Korea remains the leading value market for U.S. beef and is slightly ahead of Japan as the No. 1 volume market. Through August, exports to Korea totaled 170,835 mt, down 14% from a year ago, while value slipped 27% to $1.41 billion. Increased demand for beef variety meat has been a bright spot, however, as variety meat exports to Korea increased 68% in volume (10,238 mt) and 73% in value ($54.6 million) compared to the same period last year.
August beef exports to China/Hong Kong fell sharply from the record-large totals posted in August 2022. Shipments were down 38% in both volume (18,987 mt) and value ($168.2 million). Through August, exports to the region were down 19% to 156,860 mt, valued at $1.37 billion (down 23%). On a positive note, exports to Hong Kong increased 19% to 25,938 mt, valued at $264 million (up 3%).
Beef exports to Africa, nearly all of which are beef variety meat, posted another strong month in August, climbing 25% from a year ago to 1,424 mt. Export value increased 24% to $2.5 million. Led by a doubling of exports to South Africa and strong growth in Cote D’Ivoire, January-August exports to Africa climbed 62% to 15,623 mt, valued at $18.6 million (up 29%).
Variety meat also accounts for a large share (nearly 80%) of U.S. beef exports to Peru, where August shipments were steady with last year at 724 mt. Through August, beef and beef variety meat exports to Peru increased 31% from a year ago to 5,219 mt, while value was up 11% to $21.6 million. Led by growth in Colombia and Chile, August beef exports to South America were the largest since June 2022, up 4% year-over-year to 2,243 mt, while export value increased 7% to $11.6 million. January-August exports to the region were still sharply lower than last year (14,043 mt, -23%; $76 million, -30%).
August beef export value equated to $395.81 per head of fed slaughter, down 10% from the very high average posted a year ago. The January-August average was $395.71, down 16%. Exports accounted for 13.4% of total August beef production and 11.3% for muscle cuts – each down about two percentage points from the high year-ago ratios. January-August exports accounted for 14.3% of total production and 12% for muscle cuts, down from 15.5% and 13.3%, respectively, last year.

August lamb exports trend lower

Despite an increase in exports to the Caribbean, August exports of U.S. lamb muscle cuts fell 14% from a year ago to 107 mt – the lowest volume this year. Export value was down 18% to $678,000. Through August, lamb muscle cut exports were down 3% to 1,371 mt, valued at just under $8 million (down 7%). January-August exports increased to the Netherlands Antilles, Panama and Canada but were lower to the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. Shipments to Mexico were up slightly in volume but value trended lower.