American Beef Export Trade Stats: August 2020
Beef Highlights
August 2020:
Beef : 89,148 mt, +3.5% (and over 89,000 mt for the first time since July 2019), $611 million +0.5%
BVM: 20,604 mt, -28%, $63 million, -24%
Beef + BVM: 109,752 mt, -4.5%, $674 million, -2%
January – August 2020:
Beef: 627,248 mt, -6%, $4.379 billion, -9%
BVM: 181,411 mt, -16%, $571 million, -10%
Beef + BVM: 808,659 mt, -8%, $4.951 billion, -9%
August beef muscle cut exports rebounded to 89,148 mt, the highest since last July, up 3.5% from last year or +3,000 mt. Beef muscle cut exports have only been above 89,000 mt for 3 months in 2019, 5 months in 2018, and 1 month in 2011. Compared to last year, August beef muscle cuts were higher to Korea (+5,200 mt), China/HK (+3,300 mt), Taiwan (+1,200 mt), Canada (+930 mt), EU (+460 mt), and the ASEAN (+30 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-5,100 mt), Caribbean + DR (-900 mt), South America (-720 mt), Central America (-630 mt), the Middle East (-450 mt), and Japan (-400 mt). Beef cut exports were record large to Korea (26,403 mt, +25% and up from the previous record of 24,192 mt in July 2019) and Taiwan (7,416 mt, +20% and up from the previous record of 6,629 mt in June 2019). Exports to China (3,580 mt, +309%) also set a new record for the second consecutive month. Combined beef exports to China/HK totaled 9,303 mt (+56% and the highest since December), and exports were also higher year-over-year to Hong Kong (5,723 mt, +12%). Exports to Japan (21,882 mt, -2%) were slightly lower than last year. In the ASEAN region, exports were record-large to Indonesia (1,837 mt, +99%), and volumes continued to rebound to the Philippines (861 mt, -37%), Vietnam (832 mt, -29%), and Singapore (347 mt, +23%), although exports to the Philippines and Vietnam remained below year-ago levels. Exports to Canada (9,082 mt, +11%) were the highest since April. Exports to Mexico (5,961 mt, -46%) slowed 1% from July (but were up from the Apr – June slowdown when monthly exports ranged between 2,604 mt and 4,457 mt). Exports also slowed from July to August for Chile (512 mt, -48%), but exports to Colombia (242 mt, -37%) rebounded to the highest level since March. Exports to Guatemala (405 mt, -43%), the Dominican Republic (236 mt, -59%), Netherlands Antilles (171 mt, -28%), and the United Arab Emirates (338 mt, -14%) were also the highest since March.
After rebounding somewhat to 23,762 mt in July, beef variety meat exports slowed to 20,604 mt in August, down 28% or -8,200 mt from last year. August exports were higher year-over-year to South America (+340 mt), Africa (+280 mt), Canada (+60 mt), Central America (+30 mt), and China/HK (+5 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-3,700 mt), Japan (-2,100 mt), the Middle East (-1,900 mt), Korea (-360 mt), and the Caribbean + DR (-290 mt). Exports to the top three destinations slowed from July to August: Mexico (6,407 mt, -37%), Japan (4,268 mt, -33%), and Egypt (2,844 mt, -41%). Exports to Peru (1,051 mt, +163%) were the highest since 2014, while exports slowed from July to August for Chile (151 mt, +24%), and exports to Colombia (147 mt, -68%) continued to rebound but remained well off last year’s highs (of over 400 mt in July/Aug 2019). Exports to South Africa (854 mt, +9%) picked up from 746 mt in July, and exports remained strong to Angola (370 mt, -3%), Gabon (236 mt, +46%), and Cote d’Ivoire (213 mt, up from 0 mt). Exports to Indonesia (807 mt, -34%) were the highest since March, but exports slowed to the Philippines (130 mt, -43%). Exports to Canada (628 mt, +11%) have been higher all year. Exports to Korea (746 mt, -33%) were lower, and exports to Hong Kong (598 mt, -33%) slowed to the lowest level since February, but exports to China (306 mt, up from 1 mt) were the highest since the market reopened). Exports to Jamaica (234 mt, -41%) started to rebound in August after dropping to the lowest level since January in July.
January – August beef and variety meat exports totaled 808,659 mt, down 8% or -72,900 mt from last year. Exports were higher to Canada (+8,700 mt), Africa (+6,700 mt), China/HK (+4,400 mt), and the Russia region (+30 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-43,900 mt), the Middle East (-14,900 mt), Japan (-8,100 mt), Caribbean + DR (-6,300 mt), Korea (-6,000 mt), ASEAN (-5,800 mt), South America (-3,700 mt), EU (-2,400 mt), Central America (-1,600 mt), and Taiwan (-260 mt).
August beef exports accounted for 11.9% of production and 13.7% when adding variety meats, as compared to 11.3% and 14.0% in August 2020. January – August exports accounted for 11.1% of beef production and 13.3% when adding variety meats, down from 11.6% and 14.2% last year.
August beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $302.82/head, up $3.88/head or +1% from $298.94/head for July 2019. January – August export value per head averaged $297.96/head, down $12.91/head or -4% from $310.87/head last year.
Source: USMEF
