Consistent Performance for US Beef
US - The international marketplace continued to roll out the red carpet for U.S. pork, beef and lamb products in 2008, recording double-digit increases for all over 2007 levels, according to statistics released by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
13 February 2009
1 minute read
Total U.S. beef exports registered gains of 10.8 percent in volume and 16.5 percent in value in December versus one year ago. For the calendar year, export volumes rose 28 percent to 984,712 metric tons (nearly 2.2 billion pounds) while values jumped 38 percent to $3.6 billion.
While there are ups and downs on a country-by-country basis, the key export markets for U.S. red meat continue to perform fairly consistently, according to USMEF Economist Erin Daley.
“Mexico continues to dominate as the largest market for U.S. beef, while Canada is consistent with the previous two months and the first quarter of 2008, although well below volumes seen in the second and third quarters of this year,” said Daley. “And exports to Japan are up 29 percent for December and 59 percent for the year in volume.”
Daley noted that it is too soon to tell how issues raised by Canada and Mexico regarding Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will affect U.S. beef exports to those key markets. She noted that they are far-and-away the top two destinations for U.S. beef, accounting for 56 percent of the volume and 58.4 percent of the value of all U.S. beef exports in 2008.
Further Reading
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- | You can view the USMEF statistics by clicking here. |
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