Beef Highlights:

June 2021:

Beef : 88,443 mt, +46% (-2% from 2019), $724 million, +68% and the third highest monthly value after May and April (and +12% from 2019)
BVM: 23,806 mt, +28% (-16% from 2019), $80 million, +34% (+1% from 2019)
Beef + BVM: 112,249 mt, +42% (but down 5% from 2019), $804 million, +63% and the third highest monthly value after May and April (and up 11% from 2019)

January – June 2021:

Beef: 561,106 mt, +21%, $4.164 billion, +30%
BVM: 148,981 mt, +9%, $477 million, +11%
Beef + BVM: 700,087 mt, +18%, $4.641 billion, +28%

In June, beef muscle cut export volume was down 16% from May’s record volume to 88,443 mt, up 46% or +28,000 mt from last year but down 2% from 2019.  Exports were higher than last year to all destinations: China/HK (+10,850 mt), Korea (+5,500 mt), Mexico (+2,700 mt), ASEAN (+2,100 mt), Japan (+2,000 mt), Taiwan (+1,650 mt), Caribbean + DR (+950 mt), Central America (+700 mt), Middle East (+520 mt), South America (+400 mt), Canada (+350 mt), and EU 27 +UK (+290 mt).  June beef muscle cut exports to Japan (20,104 mt, +11%) were the lowest since February, and exports to Korea (20,048 mt, +38%) were the lowest since December.  Exports to Japan were down 12% from 2019, and exports to Korea were down 16% from 2019.  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 17,976 mt, up 152% from last year and up 157% from 2019.  Exports to China (15,266 mt, +766%) were steady with May and were the highest apart from the April total (of 16,352 mt), while exports to Hong Kong (2,710 mt, -49%) slowed to the lowest level since 2012.  June exports to Canada (8,031 mt, +4%) were above 2019 and 2020, and while exports to Mexico (6,911 mt, +62%) were up from last year’s low level, they were down 37% from June 2019 and were the lowest since last September.  Exports to Taiwan (5,859 mt, +39%) were the highest since last October but were down 12% from 2019.  June exports to Indonesia (1,877 mt, +538%) were record large, while exports slowed from the previous few months to the Philippines (972 mt, +56%), Vietnam (619 mt, -23%), and Singapore (288 mt, +306%) – exports were down from 2019 for the Philippines and Vietnam but were higher for Singapore.  Exports to Chile (658 mt, +75%) slowed from May and were up from last year’s low level but were down 38% from June 2019.  Exports to Colombia (178 mt, +178%) were down 54% from 2019.  Exports remain on a record pace to Costa Rica (380 mt, +332%), Guatemala (364 mt, +123%), and Panama (176 mt, +203%), and June exports to Costa Rica were the third highest on record after January and April 2021.  Exports to the Dominican Republic (502 mt, +458%) continued to rebound from last year’s low levels and were the highest since February 2020, but exports were still down 14% from 2019.  The same was true for the Bahamas (255 mt, +57%) and Netherlands Antilles (191 mt, +59%), with exports down 17% from 2019 for the Bahamas and down 7% for Netherlands Antilles.  Exports to the UAE (251 mt, +96%) slowed to the lowest level since July and were down 53% from 2019, but exports to Kuwait (229 mt, up from zero) were up 61% from 2019. 

June beef variety meat exports totaled 23,806 mt, the lowest since February, up 28% or +5,300 mt from last year but down 16% from 2019.  Exports were higher than last year to Mexico (+2,200 mt), Japan (+2,200 mt), ASEAN (+1,500 mt), the Middle East (+560 mt), China/HK (+230 mt), the Caribbean + DR (+70 mt), and Central America (+10 mt), while exports were lower to Africa (-1,120 mt), South America (-140 mt), Korea (-140 mt), and Canada (-130 mt).  Exports to Mexico (7,860 mt, +40%) slowed from March – May levels of over 8,200 mt, but exports were up from June 2018 and 2019 levels.  Exports to Japan (4,760 mt, +83%) also slowed to the lowest level since February, but were up sharply from last year (but down 32% from 2019).  Exports to Egypt (3,772 mt, +16%) slowed from 5,200 mt in May and were down 35% from June 2019.  Exports to Indonesia (1,777 mt, +408%) were the highest since 2011, but exports to the Philippines (238 mt, +51%) were the lowest since December and were down 48% from 2019.  Exports to South Africa (1,044 mt, -44%) slowed to the lowest level since February and were down 27% from 2019, while exports to Cote d’Ivoire (109 mt, -47%) were steady with May, and no exports were reported to Angola in June.  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 1,476 mt, up 19% from last year and up 45% from 2019.   Exports to China (972 mt, +336%) were the second highest since the market reopened after May, while exports to Hong Kong (504 mt, -51%) were the lowest since January.  Exports to Peru (591 mt, -39%) were also the lowest since February, and although they were down from last year’s strong levels, they were up 22% from 2019.  Exports to Canada (525 mt, -19%) were the lowest since November, and exports to Korea (371 mt, -27%) were the lowest since 2014.  Exports to Jamaica (320 mt, -11%) held at 320 mt for the second consecutive month in June after averaging only 171 mt for Jan – Apr, and exports were up 4% from 2019 in June.

January – June beef and variety meat exports totaled 700,087 mt, up 18% or +108,500 mt from last year.  Exports were higher to China/HK (+62,250 mt), Korea (+25,600 mt), Mexico (+12,700 mt), ASEAN (+5,700 mt), Central America (+3,400 mt), South America (+2,700 mt), Middle East (+2,500 mt), Japan (+1,400 mt), and Taiwan (+260 mt), while exports were lower to Africa (-3,700 mt), Canada (-3,200 mt), EU27 + UK (-980 mt), Caribbean + DR (-60 mt), and the surrounding Russia Region (-50 mt). 

June beef exports accounted for 11.5% of production and 13.6% when adding variety meats, as compared to 8.0% and 9.7% in June 2020.  January – June 2021 beef exports accounted for 12.5% of production and 14.7% when adding variety meats, compared to 10.9% and 13.3% for January – June 2020. 

June beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $351.18/head, up 60% or +$131.65/head from $219.53/head in June 2020.  January – June 2021 beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $359.49/head, up 20% or +$59.06/head from $300.43/head for January – June 2020. 

Source: USMEF