Beef Highlights:

November 2025:

Beef: 64,451 mt, -23%; $633 million, -19%
BVM: 23,688 mt, -7% but the third highest monthly volume this year; $104 million, +18%
Beef + BVM: 88,139 mt, -19%; $737 million, -16%

January – November 2025:

Beef: 795,398 mt, -13% and the lowest since 2016; $7.562 billion, -11.5% and the lowest since 2020
BVM: 242,212 mt, -8.5% and the lowest since 2005; $962 million, -5% and the lowest since 2020
Beef + BVM: 1.038 million mt, -12% and the lowest since 2015; $8.524 billion, -11% and the lowest since 2020

*note that because of historical data revisions in the GATS system for 2024 that are not reflect in our pdfs and because of differences in rounding, USDA GATS has Jan-Nov beef export value down 12% vs. our 11% in the pdfs (11.49% in our data so rounded down to 11%)

November beef muscle cut exports totaled 64,451 mt, down 5% from October and down 23% or -19,304 mt year-over-year. 

• Compared to the previous year, November beef muscle cut exports were higher to ASEAN (+1,064 mt), the Middle East (+631 mt), South America (+216 mt), and the EU 27 + UK (+61 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-11,217 mt), South Korea (-3,990 mt), Japan (-2,720 mt), Mexico (-1,690 mt), Taiwan (-575 mt), Central America (-473 mt), Canada (-471 mt), Caribbean + DR (-155 mt), Africa (-13 mt), and CIS (-5 mt). 
• Exports to South Korea jumped to over 24,000 mt in May, which was the highest level in nearly two years, as the market absorbed product that would have been exported to China.  Exports eased to 18,817 mt in June, but that was still up 3% from last year (but down from June volumes from 2021 – 2023).  Exports were 19,302 mt in July, up 16% from last year and above 2023 (but still down from the July volumes from 2018 – 2022).  Exports slowed to 16,458 mt in August, which was the lowest volume in a year (but up 1% year-over-year).  In September, exports to Korea slowed to 14,201 mt, down 18% from last year and the lowest since June 2017.  Exports rebounded somewhat from the previous month and totaled 16,043 mt in October, but that was down 14% year-over-year, and in November, exports were 16,676 mt, the highest since July, but down 19% year-over-year.
• November exports to Japan slowed to 12,613 mt, the lowest since 2015 and down 18% year-over-year.
• November beef exports to Mexico were the second lowest of the year at 6,906 mt, down 20% from the previous year.  Exports were below year-ago levels for the eighth consecutive month in November.
• November exports to Canada were also the second lowest of the year at 6,480 mt, down 7% year-over-year.
• In October, exports to Taiwan increased to nearly 5,300 mt, which was the second highest monthly total of the year and the highest volume since June.  But in November, exports slowed to 4,514 mt, which was down 11% from the previous year.
• September combined exports to China/HK dropped to 3,846 mt, down 75% from 2024 or down 11,360 mt.  This was the lowest combined volume since 2012.  In October, volumes rebounded modestly to 4,345 mt, which was down 76% from last year or down 13,482 mt.  In November, exports totaled 4,921 mt, the highest since June but down 70% year-over-year.  Exports to China were 651 mt in November, down 95% from the previous year.  Exports to HK were 4,270 mt, up 53% or up 1,500 mt from 2024 and the highest since August 2021.
• For the ASEAN region, exports to the Philippines slowed to just 598 mt, down 42% year-over-year and the lowest since November 2023.  Exports were nearly 1,100 mt in October and were above 1,400 mt each month from April through September.  Exports to Indonesia totaled 2,759 mt, up 159% from the previous year and a new monthly high (following minimal volumes from Dec 2024 through August 2025).
• For the Caribbean, exports to the DR slowed to 595 mt in November, the lowest since November 2023 and down 37% from the previous year.  Exports to Cuba rebounded to 247 mt, up 147% year-over-year and the highest since March.  Exports remained strong to the Bahamas, Leeward-Windward Islands,  Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad & Tobago
• In November, exports Guatemala totaled 642 mt, down 31% from last year’s large total, but exports are still on pace to set a new record for the 11^th consecutive year in 2025.  Exports to Costa Rica were 242 mt, up 45% year-over-year.
• For South America, exports to Chile rebounded to 632 mt, up 25% year-over-year and the highest since 2022. 
• In September, exports to the UAE were the highest since March at 597 mt.  In October, volumes totaled 368 mt, and in November, exports were 492 mt, up significantly from 2024 when Q4 volumes were minimal.  November exports to Qatar were 294 mt, the highest in a year (but down 19% from Nov 2024).

November beef variety meat exports were 23,688 mt, down 7% or -1,845 mt from 2024 but the third highest monthly volume of the year.

• In November, bvm exports were higher than last year to Japan (+2,463 mt), but were lower to all other main destinations: China/HK (-1,272 mt), Mexico (-834 mt), Middle East (-659 mt), South America (-442 mt), Africa (-295 mt), Canada (-280 mt), Central America (-264 mt), South Korea (-250 mt), ASEAN (-187 mt), and Caribbean + DR (-119 mt).
• BVM exports to Mexico jumped to 10,961 mt in October, up nearly 2,500 from the previous month and the highest since January.  Shipments were up 2.5% from the previous year in October, the first time that bvm exports were above year-ago levels since June.  In November, exports totaled 9,484 mt, the third highest of the year but down 8% from 2024.
• Exports to Canada jumped to 1,049 mt in October, the highest since March and nearly double the previous year’s volume.  In November, volumes slowed to 769 mt, down 27% year-over-year and the lowest since July.   
• Volumes to Japan jumped to 5,363 mt in October, which was up 76% or +2,300 mt from the previous year.  Volumes increased further in November to 5,495 mt, which was up 81% from the previous year or up nearly 2,500 mt and was the highest since July 2022.
• After holding over 600 mt in both September and October, exports to South Korea slowed to 582 mt in November, down 30% year-over-year.
• Combined bvm exports to China/HK rebounded from 818 mt in August to 1,147 mt in September, which was down 53% from 2024.  In October, exports rebounded further to 1,741 mt, which was the highest since March but was down 35% year-over-year.  November exports totaled 1,485 mt, down 46% year-over-year.  Exports to China were just 81 mt in November, down 96% or -1,833 mt from 2024, while exports to HK were 1,404 mt, up 67% or +560 mt from last year.
• For the ASEAN region, 146 mt of exports were reported to Indonesia, down from 341 mt in 2024.  Exports to the Philippines totaled 152 mt, up 21%.
• For South America, exports to Peru rebounded from just 191 mt in October to 424 mt in November, but volumes were down 42% year-over-year.
• BVM exports to Jamaica slowed to just 18 mt in November, the lowest since 2004 and down 91% from over 200 mt the previous year.
• After nearing 4,000 mt in January and holding over 3,000 mt in both February and March, BVM exports to Egypt dropped to just 2,476 mt in April and 2,656 mt in May.  However, volumes rebounded in June to 3,522 mt.  Volumes slowed again in July to 2,733 and August volumes totaled 2,980 mt.  In September, volumes rebounded to 3,297 mt, up 42% year-over-year and the highest in three months.  October shipments totaled 3,012 mt, down 13% year-over-year, and November shipments were 3,262 mt, down 17% year-over-year.
• Negligible volumes have been shipped to South Africa since Q4 of 2024, and no exports were reported in June or July.  Exports of 132 mt were reported in August, and exports of 136 mt were reported in September.  October exports reached 252 mt, the highest since September 2024, and November exports were 231 mt, up 54% from 150 mt in November 2024.  Exports to Cote d’Ivoire were 182 mt in November, down 54% year-over-year, while exports to Gabon were 431 mt in November, the highest since February but down 1% year-over-year.

January – November beef muscle cut + variety meat exports totaled 1.038 million mt, down 12% or -137,810 mt from 2024.  Exports were higher year-over-year to South Korea (+1,383 mt), Africa (+1,011 mt), EU 27 + UK (+316 mt), South America (+302 mt), and CIS (+27 mt).  Exports were lower to China/HK (-93,503 mt), Mexico (-22,644 mt), ASEAN (-7,228 mt), Japan (-4,773 mt), Taiwan (-4,207 mt), Canada (-3,656 mt), Middle East (-2,569 mt), Caribbean + DR (-1,484 mt), and Central America (-763 mt).

November 2025 beef exports accounted for 10.0% of production and 12.7% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.8% and 14.4% in November 2024.  January – November 2025 beef exports accounted for 10.5% of production and 12.8% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.5% and 13.8% for January – November 2024. 

November 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $408.91/head, down 5% or -$19.77/head from $428.68/head in November 2024.  January – November 2025 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $391.82/head, down 5% or -$20.76/head from $412.58/head for January – November 2024.

Source: USMEF