Beef Highlights:

April 2025:

Beef: 79,605 mt, -8%; $743 million, -7%
BVM: 21,054 mt, -17%; $82 million, -16%
Beef + BVM: 100,659 mt, -10%; $824 million, -8%

January – April 2025:

Beef: 319,312 mt, -3%; $3.016 billion, +0%
BVM: 91,714 mt, -3%; $335 million, -9%
Beef + BVM: 411,027 mt, -3%; $3.351 billion, -1%

April beef muscle cut exports totaled 79,605 mt, down 8% or -6,733 mt from 2024.  

Compared to the previous year, April beef muscle cut exports were higher to Korea (+3,528 mt), Japan (+1,755 mt), South America (+510 mt), Central America (+467 mt), EU 27 + UK (+165 mt), Africa (+27 mt), and CIS (+5 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-8,582 mt), Canada (-1,212 mt), ASEAN (-952 mt), Taiwan (-920 mt), Mexico (-904 mt), Middle East (-534 mt), and Caribbean + DR (-127 mt).

Exports to Japan gained momentum for the fourth consecutive month and totaled 18,804 mt in April, up 10% from last year and the highest since March 2023.

Exports to South Korea were the highest since December 2023 at 22,861 mt, up 18% from last year.

Exports to Mexico held around 8,400 mt each month from February through April.  In April, exports were 8,468 mt, the highest since December but down 10% from last year. 

Exports to Canada slowed to the lowest level since November at 6,700 mt in April, which was down 15% from last year.

Following strong shipments of over 5,000 mt in March, exports to Taiwan slowed to 4,482 mt in April, which was down 17% from last year.

In April, combined exports to China/HK dropped to just 7,858 mt, down 52% from last year and the lowest since June 2020.  Exports to China were 4,835 mt, down 67% from last year and the lowest since September 2020.  Exports to HK were 3,023 mt, up 86% from last year and the highest since September 2023.

For the ASEAN region, exports to the Philippines were down 10% year-over-year but were the highest since October at 1,431 mt in April.  Exports were also lower year-over-year to Vietnam (318 mt, -18%), Singapore (203 mt -23%), and Indonesia (26 mt, -96%).  

For the Caribbean, exports to the DR held strong at 904 mt in April (which was down 1% from last year) after a record month of over 1,100 mt in March.  April exports were higher than last year to the Bahamas (323 mt, +17%) and the Netherlands Antilles (262 mt, +11%).  Exports to Cuba have been slowed since the second half of 2024, and April exports slowed to 95 mt, down 78% from last year and the lowest since December 2023.

Exports to Guatemala reached the fifth highest monthly total on record at 979 mt in April, up 74% from last year.  April exports were also higher to Costa Rica (345 mt, + 29%) and Panama (308 mt, +7%).

For South America, exports were higher to the three main markets: Chile, Colombia, and Peru.  Exports to Chile were the highest since November at 347 mt, up 14% from last year.  Exports to Colombia were the highest since February 2024 at 385 mt, +96%.  Beef muscle cut exports to Peru were record large in April at 339 mt, up 205% from last year.   

For the Middle East, exports to the UAE slowed again to just 275 mt in April, down 66% from last year and the lowest since December, after exports rebounded in March to over 760 mt.  Exports continued to be lower year-over-year for Qatar (226 mt, -18%) and Kuwait (150 mt, -32%).

April beef variety meat exports totaled 21,054 mt, down 17% or -4,188 mt from last year. 

In April, BVM exports were higher than last year to Canada (+420 mt), Africa (+138 mt), Caribbean + DR (+37 mt), South America (+28 mt), and were slightly higher to Korea.  Exports were lower to Mexico (-2,451 mt), Middle East (-805 mt), China/HK (-511 mt), ASEAN (-492 mt), Japan (-408 mt), and Central America (-138 mt). 

BVM exports to Mexico have been fairly steady for the last three months at 9,145 mt in Feb, 9,146 mt in Mar, and then 9,208 mt in April.  April shipments were down 21% from last year’s strong volume.

Exports to Canada have been strong this year with volumes at 1,300 mt in Jan (the highest in over 10 years) and 1,118 mt in March.  Volumes slowed from the strong March total to 755 mt in April, which was up 125% from last year.  Since May 2024, shipments have been over 1,000 mt every other month (followed by a corresponding slowdown the following month). 

Exports to Japan were the highest since September at 3,571 mt, but volumes were down 10% from last year and were below year-ago levels for the seventh consecutive month.

After being below year-ago levels for the previous twelve months, exports to South Korea edged slightly higher than last year in April at 599 mt, up 0.5% from last year (although volumes were the lowest since December).

Combined exports to China/HK were 1,714 mt, down 23% from last year and the lowest since January 2024.  Exports to China dropped to just 491 mt, down 71% from last year and the lowest since March 2021.  Exports to HK increased to 1,223 mt, up 138% from last year and the highest since May 2023.

April exports to the ASEAN were minimal as no exports were reported to Indonesia (compared to 546 mt last April).  Exports to the Philippines were 201 mt, up 22% from last year and the highest since February 2023, but exports to Vietnam were 35 mt, down 45% from last year. 

Exports slowed to South America.  Exports to Chile were 251 mt, down 11% after holding strong at over 500 mt in both February and March.  Exports to Peru rebounded a bit to 184 mt in April, which was down 47% from last year but was the highest since January.  Exports to Peru were below year-ago levels for the last five months.  Exports to Colombia have still not fully rebounded and were 62 mt in April (up from 0 mt last year at the onset of the market access issues).

Exports to Jamaica were 161 mt in April, up 6% from last year.

In January, exports to Egypt were nearly 4,000 mt.  Volumes slowed to 3,340 mt in Feb and 3,141 mt in March.  But in April, volumes slowed sharply to 2,476 mt, down 25% from last year and the lowest since December.

Negligible volumes have been shipped to South Africa over the last seven months, and no exports were reported in April.  However, volumes continued a strong pace to Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, and Gabon.  Exports to Cote d’Ivoire were above 500 mt for the second consecutive month and were up 837% from last year at 506 mt in April.  Exports to Gabon were up 9% from last year to 314 mt.  Exports to Morocco slowed from the record high of 620 in March to 236 mt in April, but that was still up 87% from last year. 

January - April beef muscle cut + variety meat exports totaled 411,027 mt, down 3% or -12,500 mt from 2024.  Exports were higher year-over-year to South Korea (+2,742 mt), Canada (+2,140 mt), Africa (+644 mt), Central America (+639 mt), EU 27 + UK (+414 mt), and CIS (+14 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-7,176 mt), Mexico (-4,993 mt), ASEAN (-1,923 mt), Middle East (-1,873 mt), Japan (-1,499 mt), Taiwan (-810 mt), Caribbean + DR (-558 mt), and South America (-240 mt).

April 2025 beef exports accounted for 11.1% of production and 13.1% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.7% and 14.1% in April 2024.  January – April 2025 beef exports accounted for 11.4% of production and 13.6% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.6% and 13.9% for January – April 2024.

April 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $396.71/head, down 5% or -$20.16/head from $416.87/head in April 2024.  January – April 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $415.16/head, up 1.1% or +$4.90/head from $410.26/head for January – April 2024.

Source: USMEF