Beef Highlights: 

February 2019:
Beef: 69,847 mt, -6%, $508 million, -4%
BVM: 25,038 mt, -4%, $74 million, +3%
Beef + BVM: 94,885 mt, -6%, $582 million, -3%

January – February 2019:
Beef: 147,983 mt, -5%, $1.068 billion, -1%
BVM: 51,668 mt, +1%, $156 million, +11%
Beef + BVM: 199,651 mt, -3%, $1.224 billion, +0%

In February, higher beef muscle cut exports to Korea (+1,500 mt), Mexico (+1,500 mt), Japan (+440 mt), Taiwan (+230 mt), and the Middle East (+160 mt) were outweighed by lower exports to China/HK (-5,200 mt), Canada (-1,500 mt), South America (-710 mt), the EU (-490 mt), the ASEAN (-190 mt), Central America (-170 mt), and Africa (-140 mt).  Exports to the Caribbean + DR were steady year-over-year.  Beef exports to top market Japan slowed from January but were up 3% from last year at 17,708 mt.  Exports to Korea remained at a high level at 16,316 mt, up 10% from last year, and exports to Mexico were 11,902 mt, up 14% from last year.  Exports to Canada slowed to the lowest level since 2007 at 6,430 mt, down 19% from last year.  Exports to China/HK dropped to 5,350 mt, down 49% and the lowest since August 2015.  Exports to HK were 4,916 mt, down 52%, and exports to China were 434 mt, up 18% but the lowest monthly volume since last March.  Exports to Taiwan were up 6% from last year at 4,127 mt.  For the ASEAN region, exports were higher to Indonesia (614 mt, +27%) but were lower to the Philippines (820 mt, -13%) and Vietnam (637 mt, -34%).  Exports to the DR maintained momentum and were up 39% from last year at 552 mt, while exports to the Bahamas were up 18% at 254 mt.  Growth to the Middle East was driven by Saudi Arabia (252 mt, +713% and the highest since 2012) and the UAE (549 mt, +21%).  Exports were lower to Chile (502 mt, -57%), the top market in South America, and exports were lower to Guatemala (286 mt, -35%), the top market in Central America. 

In February, BVM exports were higher to Japan (+1,000 mt), Africa (+490 mt), the ASEAN (+450 mt), the Caribbean + DR (+320 mt), China/HK (+100 mt), and Central America (+80 mt).  Exports were lower to the top two markets: the Middle East (-1,500 mt) and Mexico (-1,450 mt), and exports were also lower to Canada (-340 mt), South America (-100 mt), and Korea (-91 mt).  BVM exports to Mexico slowed to 6,952 mt, down 17% from last year and the lowest since last July.  Exports to Egypt were the highest since last March but were still down 19% from last year at 6,106 mt.  In addition to the drop in exports to Mexico and Egypt, exports were also lower to Korea (1,313 mt, -6%), Canada (638 mt, -35%), Peru (232 mt, -21%), Colombia (129 mt, -23%), and Angola (116 mt, -31%), while exports increased to most other destinations.  Exports to Japan were up 33% (4,062 mt), and exports to HK were up 6% (1,749 mt).  In the ASEAN region, exports were higher for both Indonesia (904 mt, +16%) and the Philippines (588 mt, +115%).  In South Africa, exports trended higher from January and were 671 mt, up 69% from last year.  Exports were also higher to Gabon (287 mt, +173%) and Cote d’Ivoire (100 mt, +127%).

For January – February, total beef and bvm exports were down 6,400 mt from last year.  Exports were higher to Japan (+3,400 mt), Korea (+2,200 mt), the ASEAN (+1,800 mt), Africa (+1,100 mt), Caribbean + DR (+630 mt), Central America (+340 mt), Taiwan (+240 mt), and Mexico (+60 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-9,000 mt), Canada (-2,700 mt), the Middle East (-2,000 mt), South America (-1,800 mt), and the EU (-500 mt).

February  beef exports accounted for 10.1% of production and 12.8% when adding variety meats, down from 10.8% and 13.6% in February 2018.  For January – February, beef exports accounted for 9.9% of production and 12.5% when adding variety meats, down from 10.4% and 13.0% last year. 

February beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $309.39/head, down $12.90/head or -4% from $322.29/head for February 2018.  For January – February, beef export value per head averaged $296.19/head, down $10.50/head or -3% from $306.69/head last year.  

SOURCE: USMEF