Exports of U.S. beef, pork, and lamb trended higher year-over-year in March, according to data released by the USDA and the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Beef export value was the highest since June, while Latin American markets again fueled pork export growth.
“Considering all the uncertainty in the world today around tariffs and what may or may not happen, the one thing that is clear is that demand for U.S. beef continues to be strong globally, says USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom.
In the month of March, the U.S. had its highest value month of exports in almost a year, with $922 million. Halstrom notes the broad base of markets contributed to that figure, for now.
“Taiwan came back with a very big month for them. Central America continues to be strong. Mexico, one of our larger export destinations, up 6% on the volume side, up 11% on the value side,” he says. “China hung in there with steady performance in March, but we all know that with the tariffs now in place into China, that we’ll see a dramatic drop off in April.”
He notes that the value of beef exports equates to $467 per head.
Don’t Forget About Pork
Pork exports were also strong in March, up almost 3 percent from a year ago. At $770 million exported — $74 per head — it’s the second highest performance in any given month for exports, Halstrom says.
“But the real significant factor here is that it’s continues to be broad-based,” he says. “Mexico, largest market up 14% year-on-year for the month of March. Central America continues to perform well. Colombia had a huge month in March, the second largest month ever, at over 14,000 tons. Yeah, you add all that up – a very impressive month on the value side.”
