July Pork Exports Trend Lower;
Beef Exports Largest of 2012

U.S. pork exports in July were slightly lower than a year ago, while beef exports dipped moderately in volume, achieving their largest monthly total of 2012 while holding steady in value. These results are based on statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

"With higher operating costs, both the pork and beef sectors are facing serious economic challenges," said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. "Tight beef supplies have pushed prices higher and strong demand from our international customers is helping support higher beef cutout values.

"On the pork side, an increase in U.S. production has been offset by larger exports, helping drive the pork cutout to its peak in late June. With these factors in mind, it is absolutely critical that we remain aggressive with our international promotions and continue to capture the highest return possible on the products we export. Our pork and beef export value totals continue to outpace last year's records, which is certainly a positive sign."

July pork exports totaled 164,720 metric tons (mt), down nearly 3% from a year ago and the smallest volume since October 2010. Pork export value was also down less than 3% to $467.4 million. Despite these lower results, year-to-date exports through July remained very strong — 4% above last year's record pace in volume (1.3 million mt) and 11% higher in value ($3.63 billion).

Pork export value per head slaughtered in July was $56.04, down from $58.84 a year ago. Though for January through July, export value per head was about 8% higher than last year at $57.56. Exports equated to 23% of July production for muscle cuts and 26.5% when including variety meat. For January through July, these ratios were 24% and 27.5%, respectively.

While July beef export volume (108,971 mt) was 9.5% lower than a year ago, it was the largest monthly volume of 2012 and up 16% from June. Export value in July ($513.5 million) was slightly higher than a year ago and up 11% from June. Year-to-date exports through July remained 11% below the record pace of 2011 in volume (659,433 mt) but increased 4% in value to $3.17 billion.

July beef exports equated to 11% of production for muscle cuts and 14.3% when including variety meat. The respective ratios for January through July were 9.8% and 12.8%. Beef export value per head of fed slaughter totaled $235.18 in July — down less than 1% from the record set in July 2011. For January through July, per-head export value averaged $212.73 — topping last year's pace by 7%.

Pork export market highlights
Mexico (340,091 mt, +13%), China/Hong Kong (252,187 mt, +20%), Canada (129,730 mt, +14%) and Russia (58,572 mt, +43%) continued to drive pork export volume through the first seven months of 2012. Among these key markets, only China/Hong Kong recorded a lower year-over-year volume in July. January-July export value was also substantially higher in each of these markets: Mexico ($625.7 million, +12%), China/Hong Kong ($508.9 million, +55%), Canada ($473.5 million, +19%) and Russia ($168.4 million, +38%).

Export volume for Japan was 6% lower in July and down 7% for the year, but Japan is still 6% ahead of last year's record-value pace ($1.17 billion). After slipping in June, export value to Japan rebounded to $157.2 million in July — roughly equal to a year ago.

Year-over-year exports to South Korea continued to be down about one-third in volume through July (91,640 mt) and about one-fourth lower in value ($261.6 million). However, this is due to the surge in exports in 2011 resulting from a major shortage of domestic pork. This year's exports to Korea were still up 64% in volume and 120% in value when compared to January-July 2010.

Beef export market highlights
Several key beef export markets posted increases in value for January through July despite lower volumes, including: Canada (-12 in volume to 97,326 mt, +7% in value to $639.3 million), the Middle East (-5% to 91,348 mt, +8% to $201.5 million), Japan (-3% to 91,132 mt, +19% to $600.2 million) and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region (-6% to 38,502 mt, +14% to $160 million).

Markets posting increases in both volume and value included Russia (+7% to 44,461 mt and +38% to $184.7 million) and Central and South America (+35% to 20,458 mt and +79% to $76.1 million). Exports to Hong Kong were steady in volume at 29,776 mt and up 22% in value at $161.7 million.

A weak peso continued to create a tough business climate for U.S. beef in Mexico, which remained the largest volume destination (122,056 mt), but slipped to third in value (behind Canada and Japan) at $518.3 million. A weak economy and large domestic supplies hurt exports to Korea, which were 22% lower in volume (76,559 mt) through July and down 18% in value ($353.6 million). Exports to Taiwan have been hit hard by regulatory restrictions — down 65% in volume (6,755 mt) and 58% in value ($43.4 million). However, Taiwan's recent establishment of a maximum residue level for ractopamine is expected to create a more favorable business climate for the remainder of this year.

Lamb exports continue to struggle
U.S. lamb exports continued to battle a tough economic environment through July, with year-over-year exports falling by 36% in volume (7,299 metric tons) and 21% in value ($14.7 million). Export volume was down across the globe, though increases in value were achieved in Canada ($2.5 million, +24%) and Panama ($128,000, +103%). USMEF continues to work with U.S. trade officials on regaining access for U.S. lamb in critical destinations such as Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Korea and the European Union.

Complete export results for pork, beef and lamb are available at http://www.usmef.org/news-statistics/statistics/.

Editor's Note: This is a release from the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Export statistics refer to both muscle cuts and variety meat unless otherwise noted. One metric ton = 2,204.622 pounds.