Beef export value climbed 5% from 2023 despite a slight decrease in volume, as unit export values were record high, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom explains the increases were driven by diversification of export markets.
Beef export value was up to $10.5 billion, which equated to $415 per fed had slaughtered.
“The year turned out really well considering what we thought it would be a year ago. It’s a tale of two halves of the year,” Halstrom says. “The first part of the year really lagged in Asia. Now we were doing well in Latin America as a whole, on U.S. beef, but Asia was lagging in the first half of the year.”
He says the second half of the year, especially the fourth quarter, showed a rebound in markets like Japan, in particular, as well as in Korea and Taiwan.
“I think that’s the silver lining on the beef side, is that it started off just being Latin America early in the year, but we got to the end of the year, and we’re seeing even Asia rebound, especially on the foodservice side, with tourism booming in many of these countries. That’s a big change from the last three or four years,” Halstrom explains.
December beef exports totaled 110,171 mt, up 1.5% from a year ago, while value climbed 4% to $897.6 million – the highest since July. For the full year, beef exports were 1.29 million mt, down 0.5% year-over-year, while value increased 5% to $10.45 billion.
According to the USMEF report, market diversification paid dividends for beef exports, which achieved annual volume and value records in a number of emerging markets, including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, the Leeward-Windward Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Turks and Caicos, Cuba, Guyana, Singapore and Morocco. Value records were reached in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain.
A detailed summary of the 2024 export results for U.S. pork, beef and lamb, including market-specific highlights, is available from USMEF.
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