Beef Highlights:

September 2020:
Beef : 78,981 mt, -6%, $531 million -9%
BVM: 24,296 mt, -7%, $70 million, -13%
Beef + BVM: 103,277 mt, -6%, $601 million, -9%

January – September 2020:
Beef: 706,229 mt, -6%, $4.910 billion, -9%
BVM: 205,707 mt, -15%, $642 million, -11%
Beef + BVM: 911,936 mt, -8%, $5.552 billion, -9%

September beef muscle cut exports totaled 78,981 mt, down 6% or -4,700 mt from last year.  Exports were higher to China/HK (+3,200 mt), Canada (+700 mt), Taiwan (+670 mt), Korea (+260 mt), and Japan (+60 mt), while exports were lower year-over-year to Mexico (-4,100 mt), ASEAN (-2,600 mt), EU (-1,350 mt), Caribbean + DR (-640 mt), Central America (-390 mt), Middle East (-360 mt), and South America (-200 mt).  Exports to Korea (20,592 mt, +1%), Japan (19,653 mt, +0%), and Canada (8,130 mt, +9%) slowed from August.  Exports to China/HK totaled 10,723 mt, up 43% from last year and the highest since last November.  Exports to Hong Kong (6,481 mt, +3%) were the highest since last November, and exports to China (4,242 mt, +239%) set a new monthly record for the third consecutive month.  September exports to HK were up 13% from the previous month, and exports to China were up 18% from the previous month.  Exports to Mexico (6,307 mt, -40%) were up 6% from August and were the highest since March but remained significantly lower year-over-year.  Exports to Taiwan (5,756 mt, +13%) remained higher year-over-year after setting a record of 7,416 mt in August.  Exports to Vietnam (1,010 mt, -45%) were the highest since December, while exports slowed to Indonesia (924 mt, -46%) and the Philippines (804 mt, -55%).  Exports slowed from August to Chile (421 mt, -12%), Colombia (154 mt, -43%), and Guatemala (378 mt, -33%) but exports were steady with the previous month in Costa Rica (168 mt, +22%).  Exports were lower to the UAE (264 mt, -42%), while exports to Qatar (175 mt, +349%) were the highest since 2017.  Exports to the Dominican Republic (184 mt, -62%) and the Bahamas (147 mt, -12%) have been below year-ago levels since March. 

Beef variety meat exports totaled 24,296 mt in September, the highest since March but down 7% or -1,800 mt from last year.  Exports were higher year-over-year to Africa (+1,500 mt), South America (+480 mt), China/HK (+270 mt), Caribbean + DR (+240 mt), and Japan (+60 mt), while exports were lower year-over-year to Mexico (-1,900 mt), the Middle East (-1,300 mt), ASEAN (-590 mt), Canada (-270 mt), Central America (-100 mt), and Korea (-80 mt).    

Exports to Mexico (7,162 mt, -21%) were up 12% from August and were the second highest since March after July.  Exports to Japan (4,507 mt, +1%) were up 6% from August and were the second highest this year after July.  Exports to Egypt (4,062 mt, -24%) were the second highest since March after July.  Exports to South Africa (+2,050 mt, +116%) were the highest since March and the third highest on record, and exports outperformed the seasonal trend of peaking in the summer and declining in the fall (and were up from this year’s June peak of 1,860 mt).  Exports were also higher year-over-year to Angola (324 mt, +22%), Cote d’Ivoire (268 mt, up from 12 mt last year), and Gabon (205 mt, +659%).  Exports maintained momentum to Peru (1,082 mt, +103%) and were the highest since 2014, while exports to  Colombia (227 mt, -13%) and Chile (174 mt, -13%) were lower year-over-year.  Beef variety meat exports to Korea (858 mt, -8%) were the highest since May.  Exports to Hong Kong (638 mt, -25%) were lower year-over-year, but exports to China (488 mt, up from 8 mt last year) were the largest since the market reopened.  Exports were lower year-over-year to Indonesia (610 mt, -43%) and the Philippines (105 mt, -56%).  Beef variety meat exports to Canada (500 mt, -35%) dropped below year-ago levels for the first time this year in September.  Exports to Jamaica (396 mt, +44%) were the highest since last April, and exports to Trinidad and Tobago (158 mt, +193%) were the highest since March.

January – September beef and variety meat exports totaled 911,936 mt, down 8% or -79,400 mt from last year.  Exports were higher to Canada (+9,100 mt), Africa (+8,100 mt), China/HK (+7,900 mt), Taiwan (+420 mt), and the Russia region (+40 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-49,900 mt), Middle East (-16,600 mt), ASEAN (-9,000 mt), Japan (-8,000 mt), Caribbean + DR (-6,700 mt), Korea (-5,800 mt), EU (-3,800 mt), South America (-3,400 mt), and Central America (-2,100 mt).

September beef exports accounted for 10.5% of production and 12.8% when adding variety meats, as compared to 11.9% and 14.6% in September 2019.  January – September exports accounted for 11.0% of beef production and 13.2% when adding variety meats, down from 11.6% and 14.3% last year. 

September beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $274.31/head, down $44.22/head or -14% from $318.54/head for September 2019.  January – September export value per head averaged $295.21/head, down $16.48/head or -5% from $311.68/head last year. 

SOURCE: USMEF