Red Meat Exports Play Waiting Game at Ports as Ships Return Empty
![“Asian exporters are paying premium shipping rates, sometimes 10 times what the rate is for going from the [United] States back to Asia, and this shipping rate disparity incentivizes sending back those empty containers,” Borror said.](https://cdn.farmjournal.com/s3fs-public/styles/840x600/public/2021-02/Export-ship-840.jpg?itok=G2yGNRES)
Logistic issues continue to plague the supply chain. With U.S. red meat exports hitting record highs in 2021, U.S. Meat Export Federation Economist Erin Borror commented on the current shipping bottlenecks and the importance of a “just-in-time” market looming over these exports in 2022.
“Asian exporters are paying premium shipping rates, sometimes 10 times what the rate is for going from the [United] States back to Asia, and this shipping rate disparity incentivizes sending back those empty containers,” Borror said. In result, shipment delays have caused red meat exports to sit at U.S. ports for weeks or even months waiting for ship space.
Uncertainty in shipping time frames creates challenges in exporting chilled product, which encompasses a large part of the U.S. red meat export portfolio and our competitive advantage, Borror added.
Chilled product provides a notable premium over frozen, which led to an increase of about $1 billion in 2020 alone. In Taiwan, customers are paying a premium of $2.54 per pound, Borror said.
Borror emphasized the expectation of our choice and prime products to be chilled, not frozen. The current shipping and supply chain issues elevate the challenge of providing a quality product to the “just-in-time” export market.
