US beef and pork exports experienced a downturn in April, primarily due to significant obstacles in the Chinese market. However, strong performances in other key regions helped to offset some of these losses, according to Dan Halstrom, CEO of the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
“China, we knew would have an off month in April,” Halstrom stated, explaining that the month marked “the start of the disruption and the height of the tariffs, almost 150% tariffs on beef throughout April.” This led to a dramatic decrease in beef volume to China, down “almost 70% year on year.”
Despite the challenges in China, the beef sector saw considerable positive movement in other parts of the world. Halstrom highlighted robust growth in Korea, which was up 18%. Central America also showed significant increases, as did Japan and South America. Within South America, while Chile and Peru posted good figures, Colombia emerged as “the bright spot.”
Halstrom noted, “We’ve really been trying to regain shares since last April, when we had basically U.S. beef out of the market for about five or six months around this HPAI in dairy cattle issue. We’ve been trying to scramble to regain shares. We’re very excited about that.”
Pork exports faced a similar hurdle in China, with volumes down about 35%, primarily on variety meats. Mexico, a traditionally strong market for US pork, was also “a bit down as well, compared to a record a year ago.” However, Halstrom emphasized that “even at 91,000 tons, that’s still a very, very good month” for Mexico.
The success of US pork in April largely stemmed from Latin America. “Central America continues to perform well,” Halstrom observed, noting their consistently strong performance “for more than a year now, really on fire on both beef and pork.” Colombia was another standout for pork exports, with a “huge month in Columbia, 12,000 metric tons. That’s up about 60% from a year ago.” Halstrom expressed satisfaction, stating, “It’s really satisfying to see us continuing to expand our share down in Colombia.”
Lamb exports, which primarily target Mexico and the Caribbean, bucked the trend and saw an increase in April, continuing the positive momentum from the first quarter of the year. “Mexico was the star, doubling from last year,” Halstrom reported. He added that this growth was “primarily underutilized cuts, things like lamb breast meat and lamb shoulders. So we’re excited to see some traction there.”
For more information on US meat exports, interested readers can visit usmef.org.
