Beef Highlights:

May 2025:

Beef: 76,967 mt, -10%; $716 million, -11% and the lowest since January 2024
BVM: 20,299 mt, -17% and the lowest since June 2020; $83 million, -15%
Beef + BVM: 97,266 mt, -12% and the lowest since June 2020; $799 million, -11.5% and the lowest since January 2024

January – May 2025:

Beef: 396,279 mt, -4%; $3.732 billion, -2%
BVM: 112,014 mt, -6%; $417 million, -10%
Beef + BVM: 508,293 mt, -5%; $4.150 billion, -3%

May beef muscle cut exports totaled 76,967 mt, down 10% or -8,589 mt from 2024.  This was the lowest monthly volume since February, but for just the month of May, it was the lowest since 2020 (and otherwise the lowest since 2017).    

• Compared to the previous year, May beef muscle cut exports were higher to Korea (+7,202 mt), Japan (+815 mt), the EU 27 + UK (+349 mt), South America (+205 mt), Middle East (+204 mt), Caribbean + DR (+87 mt), and Central America +80 mt).  Exports were slightly higher to Africa and slightly lower to CIS.  Exports were lower to China/HK (-12,256 mt), ASEAN (-2,027 mt), Canada (-1,615 mt), Taiwan (-944 mt), and Mexico (-673 mt). 
• Exports to South Korea jumped to 24,385 mt, up 42% from last year as the marked absorbed product that would have been exported to China.  This was the highest volume to South Korea since June 2022.
• Exports to Japan eased modestly from April but were higher year-over-year for the third consecutive month in May at 18,034 mt, up 5% year-over-year.  Exports were above 18,000 mt for the last three months, and the last time volumes were that high for three consecutive months was at the beginning of 2023.
• After holding quite steady at ~8,400 – 8,450 mt from February through April, exports to Mexico dropped to the lowest level since January at 7,860 mt, which was down 8% from last year. 
• After slowing to 6,700 mt in April, exports to Canada remained sluggish at 6,634 mt in May, down  20% from last year and the lowest since September.
• May exports to Taiwan were the second highest so far this year but were 16% below last year’s level at 4,934 mt.
• In May, combined exports to China/HK dropped to just 4,449 mt, down 73% from last year and the lowest since March 2020.  Apart from the initial pandemic slowdowns in Feb and March 2020, exports were the lowest since 2012.  Exports to China were 1,398 mt, down 90% from last year and the lowest since April 2020.  Exports to HK were 3,051 mt, up 29% from last year and the highest since September.
• For the ASEAN region, exports to the Philippines were above 1,400 mt for the second consecutive month and were up 7% from last year at 1,404 mt in May.  Exports to Vietnam were the highest since November but were lower year-over-year at 374 mt, -27%.  Exports were also lower to Singapore (213 mt, -64%), and no exports were reported to Indonesia (compared to 1,530 mt last May). 
• For the Caribbean, exports to the DR continued to hold strong at 976 mt in May, which was up 34% from last year.  May exports were higher than last year to the Bahamas (347 mt, +15%) and the Netherlands Antilles (333 mt, +60%).  Exports to Cuba have been slowed since the second half of 2024, and no exports were reported to Cuba in May for the first time since April 2023 (and last May, the U.S. exported 220 mt of beef muscle cuts to Cuba).
• After reaching nearly 1,000 mt in April, exports to Guatemala slowed to 859 mt in May, which was down 17% from last year’s large total.  In May, exports were significantly higher than last year to Costa Rica (306 mt, +50%) and Honduras (299 mt, +81%).
• For South America, exports to Chile were steady with April at 347 mt, which was up 42% from last year and was the highest since November.  Exports to Colombia dropped to 175 mt, down 18% from last year and the lowest since February.  After reaching a new record high in April of 339 mt, exports to Peru slowed to 124 mt in May, but that was still up 57% from last year and was above year-ago levels for the fourth consecutive month.
• For the Middle East, exports to the UAE rebounded from the low April total to 468 mt, which was up 66% from last year and was the second highest so far this year.  Exports to Bahrain (113 mt, +163%) were the highest since September.  Exports to Kuwait (189 mt) were steady, and exports were lower year-over-year to Qatar (183 mt, -21%).

May beef variety meat exports totaled 20,299 mt, down 17% or -4,278 mt from last year.  May bvm exports were the lowest since June 2020, but apart from the covid-related slowdown in May and June 2020, exports were the lowest since 2009.

• In May, bvm exports were higher than last year to Africa (+73 mt), and exports were steady to Japan.  Exports were just slightly lower to Central America and decreased to Mexico (-1,635 mt), China/HK (-764 mt), Middle East (-726 mt), Canada (-399 mt), ASEAN (-308 mt), Caribbean + DR (-217 mt), South America (-162 mt), and Korea (-37 mt).
• BVM exports to Mexico slowed to 8,625 mt in May, down 16% from last year and the lowest since last March.
• After holding strong in early 2025, exports to Canada slowed to 609 mt in May, down 40% from last year and the lowest since October.
• Exports to Japan were steady with last year at 3,757 mt, which was the highest since last June.
• Exports to South Korea were 843 mt in May, down 4% from last year but the highest since last October.
• Combined exports to China/HK slowed to 1,190 mt, down 39% from last year and the lowest since January 2021.  No exports were reported to China in May, down from 1,329 mt last year, while exports to HK were the highest since May 2023 for the second consecutive month at 1,190 mt, up 90% year-over-year.
• May exports to the ASEAN were minimal as no exports were reported to Indonesia for the second consecutive month (and compared to 293 mt to Indonesia last May.  Exports to the Philippines were 124 mt, down 11% from last year, and exports to Vietnam were 3 mt, down 96%.
• For South America, exports to Peru rebounded to the highest level since December at 326 mt in May, but that was down 26% from last year.  Exports to Colombia were also the highest since December at 74 mt, but volumes remains significantly lower than before the market was temporarily closed in early 2024.  Exports to Chile were lower year-over-year at 218 mt, down 20%. 
• BVM exports to Jamaica slowed to 139 mt in May, which was the lowest since September and was down 50% from last year. 
• In April, exports to Egypt slowed to just 2,476 mt, the lowest since December.  Exports to Egypt remained sluggish in May at just 2,656 mt in May, down 22% from last year. 
• Negligible volumes have been shipped to South Africa over the last eight months, and just 24 mt were reported in May (compared to 448 mt in May 2024 and 1,474 mt in May 2023).  However, volumes continued on a strong pace to Cote d’Ivoire and Morocco.  Exports to Cote d’Ivoire were above 500 mt for the third consecutive month and reached 611 mt in May, up from no exports last May and the highest since 2017.  Exports to Morocco were 400 mt in May, the third highest monthly total after 620 mt this March and 476 mt this February.  Exports to Morocco are livers and U.S. export volume is now already approaching the annual lower-duty TRQ for livers through its FTA with Morocco.

 January - May beef muscle cut + variety meat exports totaled 508,293 mt, down 5% or -25,300 mt from 2024.  Exports were higher year-over-year to South Korea (+9,907 mt), the EU 27 + UK (730 mt), Africa (+720 mt), Central America (+712 mt), Canada (+126 mt), and CIS (+13 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-20,196 mt), Mexico (-7,301 mt), ASEAN (-4,258 mt), Middle East (-2,395 mt), Taiwan (-1,754 mt), Japan (-700 mt), Caribbean + DR (-688 mt), and South America (-197 mt).

May 2025 beef exports accounted for 11.3% of production and 13.4% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.4% and 13.8% in May 2024.  January – May 2025 beef exports accounted for 11.4% of production and 13.6% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.6% and 13.9% for January – May 2024. 

May 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $406.05/head, down 1% or -$4.80/head from $410.85/head in May 2024.  January – May 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $413.37/head, up 0.7% or +$2.99/head from $410.39/head for January – May 2024. 

Source: USMEF