Beef Highlights

April 2022:

Beef: 101,054 mt, +7% and the fourth highest after August 2021, May 2021, and March 2022; $948 million, +30% and the second highest after March 2022
BVM: 23,354 mt, -12%; $107 million, +31% and the third highest value after November and December 2021
Beef + BVM: 124,408 mt, +3% and the fifth highest after May 2021, August 2021, March 2022, and March 2021; $1.054 billion, +30% and the second highest after March 2022

January – April 2022:

Beef: 382,153 mt, +7%, $3.647 billion, +39%
BVM: 96,107 mt, -1%; $408 million, +34%
Beef + BVM: 478,260 mt, +5%; $4.054 billion, +38%

April beef muscle cut exports totaled 101,054 mt, up 7% of +6,400 mt from last year.  Muscle cut exports were reached the fourth highest monthly volume after August 2021, May 2021, and March 2022.  Beef muscle cut export value was $949 million, the second highest on record after $965 million in March.  Beef muscle cut exports were higher than last year to ASEAN (+2,900 mt), Taiwan (+2,200 mt), Japan (+1,750 mt), Caribbean + DR (+870 mt), EU 27 + UK (+810 mt), South America (+330 mt), China/HK (+270 mt), and the Middle East (+230 mt).  Exports were lower to Mexico (-2,100 mt), Korea (-620 mt), Central America (-80 mt), and Canada (-70 mt).  Beef muscle cut exports to Korea (22,443 mt, -3%) slowed from March’s large volume of nearly 26,000 mt.  From January – April, exports to Korea already exceeded $1 billion (with beef muscle cut export value up 50% year-over-year).  Beef exports to Japan (22,232 mt, +9%) were the highest since last August.  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 19,724 mt, up 1% from last year and the fifth highest total after July to October 2021.  Exports to China (18,077 mt, +11%) were the third highest after August 2021 and March 2022, while exports to Hong Kong (1,647 mt, -47%) rebounded somewhat from March but remained sluggish.  Exports to Taiwan (7,466 mt, +41%) set a new record in April.  Exports were slightly lower than last year to Canada (7,828 mt, -1%), while exports to Mexico (6,546 mt, -24%) slowed from Feb-Mar and were down significantly year-over-year.  April exports to the Philippines (2,229 mt, +104%) were record large, and exports to Indonesia (2,207 mt, +194%) reached the third highest monthly volume.  Exports were also higher to Vietnam (800 mt, +33% and the highest since last May) and Singapore (351 mt, +21%).  Exports to the DR (827 mt, +91%) were the fourth highest on record, and exports were higher to the Bahamas (271 mt, +7%), Jamaica (271 mt, +185% and the highest since 2019), and the Netherlands Antilles (214 mt, +10%).  In Central America, exports slowed to Costa Rica (433 mt, -6%) and Guatemala (422 mt, -28%) but were higher to Panama (297 mt, +130%) and Honduras (211 mt, +74%).  Exports to Chile (755 mt, +19%) and Peru (228 mt, +63%) rebounded to the highest level since November, and exports to Colombia (525 mt, +17%) remained strong.  Exports were higher to the UAE (524 mt, +24%) but were lower to Kuwait (365 mt, -17%).  Exports to the EU27 + UK (1,868 mt, +76%) rebounded to the highest level since 2019.

April beef variety meat exports slowed to the lowest level since January at 23,354 mt, -12% from last year (-3,000 mt).  April beef variety meat exports were higher to China/HK (+2,000 mt), Korea (+350 mt), and Canada (+140 mt) but were lower to Africa (-2,000 mt), Mexico (-1,900 mt), South America (-690 mt), Japan (-380 mt), ASEAN (-360 mt), Central America (-70 mt), Caribbean + DR (-60 mt), and the Middle East (-50 mt).  Beef variety meat exports to Mexico (6,605 mt, -23%) slowed to the lowest level since August 2020, and exports to Egypt (3,478 mt, +1%) slowed to the lowest level since August 2021 (but were up slightly year-over-year).  Exports to Japan (4,431 mt, -8%) were steady with March but lower year-over-year.  Combined beef variety meat exports to China were (3,413 mt, +138%) steady with March and otherwise at the highest level in all recent years.  Exports to China (2,600 mt, +195%) were sharply higher (and the highest in recent years apart from 2,815 mt in March 2022), while exports to Hong Kong (813 mt, +47%) rebounded somewhat.  Exports to Indonesia (876 mt, -32%) were the highest since October, and exports to the Philippines (489 mt, +13%) were the highest since February 2020.  Exports to Canada (853 mt, +20%) increased to the highest level since March 2020.  Exports to Korea (769 mt, +84%) were higher year-over-year for the fifth consecutive month.  Exports to South Africa (699 mt, -71%) have been mostly lower since last August, although exports did rebound somewhat from March to April.   Exports were higher year-over-year to Gabon (244 mt, +13%) but lower to Cote d’Ivoire (105 mt, -60%).  Exports to Chile (357 mt, +5%) were strong for the second consecutive month, but exports slowed to Colombia (130 mt, -55%), and exports to Peru (92 mt, -85%) have been significantly slower since December.  Exports to Jamaica (107 mt, -36%) slowed to the lowest level since 2008.

January – April combined beef muscle cut and variety meat exports totaled 478,260 mt, up 5% or +23,900 mt from last year.  Exports were higher than last year to China/HK (+18,600 mt), Taiwan (+8,000 mt), Korea (+6,200 mt), EU27 + UK (+2,900 mt), Caribbean + DR (+2,650 mt), the Middle East (+2,300 mt), ASEAN (+1,400 mt), and Central America (+580 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-11,900 mt), Africa (-3,100 mt), Japan (-1,900 mt), South America (-1,400 mt), and Canada (-510 mt).   

April 2022 beef exports accounted for 13.6% of production and 15.6% when adding variety meats, the highest muscle cut percentage since May 2021 and the highest combined total since September 2021 and compared to 12.6% and 15.0% for April 2021.  January – April 2022 beef exports accounted for 12.8% of production and 15.0% when adding variety meats, compared to 12.1% and 14.4% for January – April 2021. 

April beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $489.59/head, up 33% or +$122.13/head from $367.45/head in April 2021.  January – April 2022 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $478.03/head, up 39% or +$134.33/head from $343.70/head for January – April 2021. 

Source: USMEF