Beef Highlights

March 2021:
Beef: 98,986 mt, +13% and a new record, $718 million +16.5% and a new record
BVM: 25,822 mt, -7%, $84 million, -2.5%
Beef + BVM: 124,808 mt, +8% and the second highest monthly volume after June 2003, $802 million, +14% and a new record

January – March 2021:
Beef: 262,914 mt, +4%, $1.901 billion, +5%
BVM: 70,434 mt, -13%, $223.9 million, -11%
Beef + BVM: 333,348 mt, +0%, $2.124 billion, +3%

In March, beef muscle cut exports reached a new monthly record at 98,986 mt, up 13% or +11,362 mt from last year (previous record was 95,181 mt in August 2018).  Compared to last year, March exports were higher to China/HK (+14,600 mt), Korea (+2,000 mt), Mexico (+450 mt), Central America (+450 mt), the ASEAN (+340 mt), and South America (+230 mt), while exports were lower to Japan (-3,400 mt), Canada (-1,150 mt), EU (-830 mt), Taiwan (-820 mt), Caribbean + DR (-430 mt), Africa (-50 mt), and the Middle East (-40 mt).  Exports to Japan (23,462 mt, -13%) were down from last March’s total but were the highest since last July.  Exports to Korea (23,414 mt, +9%) were over 23,000 mt for the second consecutive month and were the highest since last August.  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 19,062 mt, up 331% from last year.  Exports to China (14,188 mt, up from 474 mt last year) were well above the previous record of 8,963 mt in December, while exports to Hong Kong (4,874 mt, +23%) were the highest since December.  Exports to Taiwan (4,905 mt, -14%) were below year-ago levels for the fourth consecutive month but were the highest since November.  Exports were higher year-over-year to Mexico (9,485 mt, +5%) but lower year-over-year to Canada (7,431 mt, -13%).  Exports to the Philippines (1,629 mt, +22%) were the second highest monthly total after September 2019, and exports were also higher to Vietnam (880 mt, +4%), Singapore (404 mt, +248%), and Thailand (170 mt, +95%).  Exports were lower Indonesia (1,185 mt, -21%) but were the highest since October.  Exports to Chile (796 mt, +13%) were the highest since 2019, exports to Colombia (523 mt, +101%) were record large, and exports to Peru (149 mt, -39%) were the highest since last March.  March exports to Guatemala (782 mt, +24%) were the second highest monthly volume after November 2020, exports to Costa Rica (351 mt, +70%) were the second highest monthly volume after January, exports to Honduras (238 mt, +78%) were record large, and exports to El Salvador (195 mt, +215%) were the highest since 2019.  Exports were lower than last year to the Dominican Republic (449 mt, -9%) and the Bahamas (204 mt, -33%), but exports were he highest since pre-covid for both markets.  Exports slowed from the November – February pace for both the UAE (470 mt, +3%) and Kuwait (192 mt, -43%) in March.

March beef variety meat exports totaled 25,822 mt, down 7% or -1,900 mt from last year but the highest since December.  Compared to last year, exports were higher to Japan (+1,400 mt), South America (+440 mt), Central America (+240 mt), and China/HK (+220 mt), while exports were lower to Africa (-1,650 mt), Mexico (-700 mt), Korea (-520 mt), the Middle East (-400 mt), Canada (-380 mt), Caribbean + DR (-270 mt), and the ASEAN (-130 mt).  Beef variety meat exports to Mexico (8,312 mt, -8%) were the highest since December.  Exports to Japan (4,950 mt, +38%) were up nearly 1,400 mt from last March and  were the highest since 2019.  Exports to Egypt (3,975 mt, -10%) rebounded somewhat after dipping in February but remained lower year-over-year.  Exports to South Africa (1,140 mt, -51%) were lower than the last March (when exports were record large at 2,349 mt), but exports were above 1,000 mt for the third consecutive month.  Exports were higher to Angola (184 mt, +15%) but were lower to Cote d’Ivoire (217 mt, -40%) and Gabon (190 mt, -67%).  Combined exports to China/HK totaled 1,494 mt, up 17% year-over-year and the highest since December.  Exports to Hong Kong (1,130 mt, -11%) were the highest since July, but exports to China (364 mt, up from 6 mt last year) slowed from 649 mt in February.  Exports to Indonesia (1,031 mt, -15%) were the highest since last March and were above 1,000 mt for the third consecutive month, and exports to the Philippines (462 mt, +0%) were also the highest since last March.  Exports to Peru (835 mt, +82%) were the highest since last September, exports to Chile (337 mt, +32%) were the highest since 2017, and exports to Ecuador (117 mt, +21%) were the highest since December, but exports to Colombia (181 mt, -8%) slowed.  Exports to Korea (690 mt, -43%) remained below pre-pandemic levels but were the highest since October.  Exports to Canada (645 mt, -37%) were lower year-over-year.  Exports to Jamaica (194 mt, -15%) were below year-ago levels for the sixth consecutive month. 

January – March beef and variety meat exports totaled 33,348 mt, down 0.4% or -1,360 mt from last year.  Exports were higher to China/HK (+27,700 mt), Korea (+5,100 mt), Central America (+930 mt), and South America (+240 mt).  Exports were lower to Mexico (-8,400 mt), Japan (-7,500 mt), Middle East (-3,250 mt), Taiwan (-3,200 mt), Canada (-3,150 mt), Africa (-2,900 mt), Caribbean + DR (-2,700 mt), EU (-2,200 mt), ASEAN (-1,700 mt), and the surrounding Russia region (-30 mt). 

March beef exports accounted for 12.5% of production and 14.7% when adding variety meats, as compared to 11.3% and 13.9% in March 2020.  January – March 2021 beef exports accounted for 11.9% of production and 14.1% when adding variety meats, compared to 11.4% and 14.0% for January – March 2020. 

March beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $348.66/head, up 13% or +$40.45/head from $308.21/head in March 2020.  January – March beef export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $335.45/head, up 6% or +$18.39/head from $317.07/head for January – March 2020. 

Source: USMEF