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Red meat exports starting 2018 strong

Red meat exports are off to a strong start for 2018.

Joe Schuele with the US Meat Export Federation says beef exports are growing around the world, but US mainstay Asian markets – Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are leading the way.  “Through the first half of the year beef export volume was up 9 percent from the first half of 2017 and export value was up 21 percent to over 4-billion-dollars,” he says.  “This is the earliest export value has ever topped $4-billion.”

He says pork exports dropped for the second consecutive month – but volume and value remain above last year’s pace with volume up 2 percent and value up 5 percent.

Schuele says there are some concerns looking ahead to the balance of the year.  “Pork exports face uncertainty in Mexico and China due to retaliatory duties,” he says.   “But exports remain solid to Japan and are gaining momentum in key markets such as Korea, Latin America, Australia, and Southeast Asia.”

Since the tariffs have been implemented, exports of US pork to Mexico have dropped 7 percent in volume and exports to the China/Hong Kong region are 21 percent with June exports alone 37 percent below year-ago levels.