Peel: Beef And Cattle Trade Rebounds From Pandemic
U.S. beef exports have bounced back from the pandemic disruptions last year. Total beef exports for the January – June period in 2021 are up 21.5% over the first six months of 2020. This includes a 46.2% year-over-year increase for the month of June over the low point last year.
Compared to 2019, year-to-date beef exports are up 12.1%. Total beef imports for the first six months of 2021 are down 3.7% year-over-year and down slightly by 0.8% over the same period in 2019.
Japan remains the largest export market for U.S. beef with a 24.6% share of year-to-date U.S. beef exports. South Korea is closing fast on Japan with a 24.1% share of beef exports for the first six months of 2021. The China/Hong Kong market continues to be the fastest growing beef export market with June exports up 159.3% year-over-year and beef exports for the January – June period up 167% over 2019 and 2020 China/Hong Kong is the third largest beef export market with a 17.9% share of total beef exports. So far in 2021, Mexico accounts for 9.5% of exports; Canada 8.1% and Taiwan, 5.5%.
Canada is the largest source of beef imports accounting for 28.2% of total beef imports for the January – June period. Mexico accounts for 20.4% of year-to-date imports, with New Zealand at a 17.7% share; Australia, an 11.9% share and Brazil an 8.8% share of total beef imports.
Total cattle imports so far in 2021 are down 19.1% year-over-year and down 20.2% compared to 2019. Total feeder cattle imports from Mexico and Canada on the year are down 18.3% for the first six months compared to last year (down 21.7% compared to 2019). Slaughter cattle imports from Canada are down 21.6% year-over-year for the year to date and down 15.7% compared to the first six months of 2019.
Total cattle exports to Canada and Mexico are up 111.7% year-over-year and up 129.1% from 2019. For the year-to-date, cattle exports to Canada equal 78.4% of cattle imports from Canada, meaning that net imports of cattle from Canada so far in 2021 are 59,340 head. Cattle exports to Mexico are up 385.3% thus far in 2021 (up 143.9% compared to 2019) and represent 4.7% of total cattle imports from Mexico.
