Beef Highlights December 2019:

Beef : 84,313 mt, -2%, $595 million -4%
BVM: 27,002 mt, +0.5%, $87 million, +10%
Beef + BVM: 111,315 mt, -1%, $682 million, -2.6%

January – December 2019:
Beef: 996,790 mt, -4%, $7.117 billion, -4%
BVM: 322,529 mt, +4%, $973 million, +9%
Beef + BVM: 1.319 million mt, -2.5%, $8.090 billion, -3%

Beef muscle cut exports were below previous year levels each month in 2019.  In December, beef exports totaled 84,313 mt, down 2% or -1,600 mt from December 2018.  In December, exports were higher to Korea (+2,900 mt), the ASEAN (+780 mt), Japan (+300 mt), the Middle East (+230 mt), Central America (+110 mt), and the Russia region (+20 mt).  Exports were steady to Canada and Africa, but were lower to China/HK (-2,700 mt), Mexico (-1,400 mt), the EU (-1,050 mt), Taiwan (-370 mt), Caribbean + DR (-270), and South America (-90 mt).  Korea was the top muscle cut export destination in December, with exports of 20,368 mt, up 16% year-over-year and the highest since August.  Exports to Japan totaled 19,386 mt, up 2% from the previous year and the highest December export volume to Japan since BSE.  In November, exports to China/HK were the highest since Dec 2018 at 12,282 mt, but volumes slowed again in December to 9,644 mt, down 22% from last year.  Exports to Hong Kong were down 32% from 2018 at 7,837 mt, but exports to China were the highest since the market opened at 1,807 mt, up 148% from last year and by far surpassing the previous record of 1,253 mt set in September.  China was the 7th largest U.S. export destination for beef muscle cut exports in December.  Exports were steady to Canada (8,152 mt), but were lower to Mexico (10.766 mt, -12%).  Exports to Taiwan had a strong finish to the year at 5,701 mt, although exports were down 6% from Dec 2018’s large total.  Beef exports were lower to the Philippines (941 mt, - 11%) but were higher to other markets in the ASEAN: Vietnam (1,217 mt, +6%), Indonesia (1,024 mt, +118% and the sixth highest month on record), Singapore (299 mt, +32%), Thailand (194 mt, up 569% and a new record).  For the Middle East, exports were down slightly to the UAE (526 mt, -3%) but were higher to Kuwait (235 mt, +97%).  December exports to both the UAE and Kuwait were the highest since July.  Exports to the DR slowed in the last quarter of 2019, and in December, exports were down 32% at 446 mt.  Exports to the Bahamas were down only 6% in December at 280 mt, and exports to the Bahamas actually ended the year higher in 2019 and were the highest since 2011.  Exports to Guatemala were 406 mt, down 13% in December, but annual 2019 exports were record large.  December exports to Chile slowed to the lowest level of the year (406 mt, -46%), but exports to Colombia maintained strong volumes (382 mt, +298%). 

December beef variety meat exports were up 0.5% or +134 mt from the previous year at 27,002 mt.  Exports were higher to Mexico (+2,300 mt), the ASEAN (+190 mt), Japan (+140 mt), and Africa (+60 mt), but exports were lower to China/HK (-1,150 mt), the Middle East (-430 mt), Korea (-330 mt), Canada (-290 mt), Central America (-280 mt), Caribbean + DR (-150 mt), and South America (-80 mt).  BVM exports to Mexico (10,978 mt, +27%) were the highest since 2016.  December BVM exports were higher to Japan (4,670 mt, +3%), and annual 2019 BVM exports to Japan were the highest since BSE at 62,948 mt.  December exports to Egypt were down 9% at 4,246 mt, the lowest since July.  Annual BVM exports decreased to Egypt from 2015 – 2018, with 2019 volumes rebounding 3% to 63,449 mt (up from 2018 but below 2006 – 2017 levels, peak was 122,112 mt in 2014).  December exports were lower to Korea (1,080 mt, -23%), Hong Kong (953 mt, -56%), and Canada (588 mt, -33%).  Exports to South Africa (788 mt, -3%) were lower in December, and annual 2019 exports were down 10% from 12,449 mt in 2018 at 11,218 mt in 2019 (and down slightly from 11,325 mt in 2017).  December exports were mixed for the other top African markets: Angola (368 mt, -10%), Gabon (348 mt, +67%), Mozambique (218 mt, +46%), and Cote d’Ivoire (230 mt, +46%).  December exports were higher to Indonesia (1,069 mt, +114%) but slowed to the lowest level since 2017 to the Philippines (95 mt, -80%).  For South America, exports slowed to Peru (328 mt, -18%) and Colombia (74 mt, -70%), but were higher to Chile (110 mt, +686%).  Exports to Jamaica (246 mt, -27%) were the lowest since 2018. 

For Jan – Dec 2019, total beef/bvm exports were down 2.5% or -33,600 mt from the record set in 2018.  Higher exports to Korea (+16,100 mt), the ASEAN (+11,600 mt), Taiwan (+3,800 mt), the Middle East (+2,500 mt), the Caribbean + DR (+1,200 mt), Central America (+420 mt), and the Russia region (+40 mt) were outweighed by lower exports to China/HK (-26,900 mt), Japan (-19,100 mt), Canada (-14,200 mt), EU (-3,400 mt), Mexico (-2,400 mt), Africa (-2,100 mt), and South America (-1,000 mt). 

In 2019, the top 20 beef/bvm volume export markets for the U.S. were Japan (311,146 mt, -6%), Korea (255,758 mt, +7%), Mexico (236,707 mt, -1%), Canada (99,833 mt, -12%), Hong Kong (92,582 mt, -25%), Egypt (63,731 mt, +3%), Taiwan (63,538 mt, +6%), Indonesia (23,591 mt, +67%), Philippines (18,448 mt, +3%), Vietnam (12,703 mt, +2%), Chile (11,378 mt, +2%), South Africa (11,246 mt, -18%), China (10,638 mt, +46%),  Netherlands (9,952 mt, -9%), the DR (8,034 mt, +18%), Peru (7,501 mt, -4%), Colombia (6,724 mt, +9%), Jamaica (6,007 mt, -9%), Guatemala (5,883 mt, +2%), and the UAE (5,672 mt, -1%).

In 2019, the top 20 beef/bvm value export markets for the U.S. were Japan ($1.950 bil, -3%), Korea ($1.842 bil, +5%), Mexico ($1.107 bil, +5%), Hong Kong ($743 mil, -23%), Canada ($654 mil, -12%), Taiwan ($567 mil, +3%), the Netherlands ($120 mil, -4%), the Philippines ($88 mil, +1%), China ($86 mil, +42%), Indonesia ($85 mil, +37%), Egypt ($76 mil, +16%), Vietnam ($76 mil, -7%), Chile ($68 mil, +5%), DR ($66 mil, +13%), UAE ($60 mil, -1%), Guatemala ($37 mil, +4%), Italy ($31 mil, -37%), Singapore ($30 mil, -1%), Bahamas ($26 mil, +6%), and Colombia ($26 mil, +27%).

In 2019, U.S beef/bvm exports were record large to: Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Israel, the DR, Netherlands Antilles, Colombia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

December beef exports accounted for 11.6% of production and 14.3% when adding variety meats, as compared to 12.6% and 15.5% in December 2018.  For January – December, beef exports accounted for 11.4% of production and 14.1% when adding variety meats, down from 12.1% and 14.6% in 2018. 

December beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $321.21/head, down $30.82/head or -9% from $352.03/head for December 2018.  For January – December, beef export value per head averaged $309.75/head, down $13.39/head or -4% from $323.14/head in 2018.

SOURCE: USMEF