Beef Highlights:

December 2020:
Beef: 93,941 mt, +11% and the second highest after Aug 2018, $660 million +11%
BVM: 25,951 mt, -4%, $84 million, -3%
Beef + BVM: 119,892 mt, +8% and the second highest since BSE after July 2011, $744 million, +9% at

January – December 2020:
Beef: 976,953 mt, -2%, $6.774 billion, -5%
BVM: 277,803 mt, -14%, $875 million, -10%
Beef + BVM: 1.255 million mt, -5%, $7.649 billion, -5%

December beef muscle cut exports were the second highest on record (after August 2018) at 93,941 mt, up 11% or +9,628 mt from December 2019.  Exports were higher year-over-year to China/HK (+6,800 mt), Mexico (+5,900 mt), Japan (+1,500 mt), Canada (+910 mt), South America (+290 mt), Central America (+120 mt), and the Middle East (+80 mt), but exports were lower to Korea (-2,700 mt), Taiwan (-1,350 mt), ASEAN (-890 mt), EU (-560 mt), and Caribbean + DR (-270 mt).  December exports to Mexico (16,647 mt, +55%) were the highest since 2009, and exports were also higher year-over-year to Canada (9,058 mt, +11%).  Exports were higher to Japan (20,873 mt, +8%) in December, while exports slowed compared to the previous year for Korea (17,661 mt, -13%) and Taiwan (4,348 mt, -24%), but annual exports to Taiwan were up slightly to a new record.  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 16,403 mt for the month of December, up 70% year-over-year but down 2% from the record set the previous month (and the third highest monthly volume on record).  However, exports only to China (8,963 mt, +396%) set a new monthly record (up from 7,902 mt in November), while exports to Hong Kong (7,440 mt, -5%) slowed.  For the ASEAN region, exports were lower year-over-year to the top destinations: Vietnam (796 mt, -35%), the Philippines (734 mt, -22%), and Indonesia (728 mt, -29%), but exports were higher to Singapore (357 mt, +19%).  December exports to Chile (696 mt, +71%) were the third highest monthly volume of the year, and beef cut exports to Colombia (463 mt, +21%) were the second highest on record after September 1995.  Exports to Guatemala (371 mt, -9%) slowed after a record month in November, but exports to Costa Rica (298 mt, +51%) were the highest since Oct 2018, and exports to Panama (217 mt, +12%) were the highest since February.  For the Caribbean, December exports to the Cayman Islands (238 mt, +57%) were the highest since 2000 (annual total to Cayman Islands was down 5.5%).  Exports were lower year-over-year to the DR (333 mt, -25%), Netherlands Antilles (201 mt, -20%), and Bahamas (196 mt, -30%) in December but were at the highest level to those destinations since March.  Exports also continued to rebound to the Middle East in December: UAE (514 mt, -2% and the highest since February), Kuwait (369 mt, +57% and the highest since 2015), Saudi Arabia (269 mt, +166% and the highest since 2012).

Monthly beef variety meat exports have been lower year-over-year since April, but December exports were the highest since March at 25,951 mt, down 3% or -1,050 mt year-over-year.  Compared to last year December exports were higher to China/HK (+640 mt), South America (+450 mt), the Middle East (+300 mt), Central America (+90 mt), Canada (+90 mt), and the Caribbean + DR (+40 mt), but exports were lower to Africa (-780 mt), Korea (-560 mt), ASEAN (-460 mt), Mexico (-400 mt), Japan (-360 mt).  December exports to Mexico totaled 10,583 mt, down 4% year-over-year, but the highest since December 2019.  Exports to Egypt (4,488 mt, +6%) slowed from the November volume (which was the highest since February), but annual exports were down 22.5% at 49,176 mt.  December exports to Japan (4,313 mt, -8%) were up 4% from the previous month but were lower year-over-year.  Exports to China/HK combined totaled 1,639 mt, up 64%.  Exports slowed to Hong Kong (870 mt, -9%), but exports to China (769 mt, up from 49 mt in Dec 2019) reached a new high since the market re-opened (up from previous high of 488 mt in September).  Exports to South Africa (700 mt, -11%) continued to seasonally slow in December, and exports were also lower to the other main African destinations: Gabon (209 mt, -40%), Angola (161 mt, -56%), and Cote d’Ivoire (132 mt, -43%).  December exports were higher to Canada (678 mt, +15%), while exports were lower to Korea (519 mt, -52%) and Indonesia (612 mt, -43%).  October – December exports to Peru slowed from the record volumes in August and September, but December exports (430 mt, +31%) remained above year-ago levels.  Exports to Chile (186 mt, +69%) were the highest since July, and exports to Ecuador (182 mt, +858%) were the highest since November 2018.  Exports to Colombia (167 mt, +126%) were higher year-over-year but slowed from the September – November levels.  Exports were lower to Jamaica (209 mt, -15%), but exports finished the year strong to Trinidad and Tobago (83 mt, +196%) – with an annual total of 1,014 mt of beef variety meats to Trinidad and Tobago, a new record.

January – December beef and variety meat exports ended the year at 1.255 million mt, down 5% or -65,000 mt.  Exports were higher to China/HK (+25,600 mt), Canada (+8,400 mt), Africa (+6,600 mt), Taiwan (+210 mt), and the Russia region (+20 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-43,800 mt), the Middle East (-17,400 mt), ASEAN (-12,600 mt), Korea (-9,500 mt), Caribbean + DR (-8,300 mt), Japan (-5,000 mt), EU (-4,100 mt), South America (-3,300 mt), and Central America (-1,400 mt). 

December beef exports accounted for 12.6% of production and 15.0% when adding variety meats, as compared to 11.6% and 14.3% in December 2019.  January – December exports accounted for 11.3% of beef production and 13.5% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.4% and 14.1% in 2019. 

December beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $349.10/head, up 9% or +$27.88/head from $321.21/head in December 2019 and the highest since April.  January – December export value per head averaged $302.31/head, down $7.44/head or -2% from $309.75/head in 2019. 

Source: USMEF