By Josh Maples
The latest monthly trade data were released by USDA ERS/FAS this past Friday. The data released were for January 2021 and showed total beef and veal exports by carcass weight were up slightly (0.4 percent) from January 2020 at 246 million pounds. Beef and veal imports were down 8.1 percent from a year ago at 224 million pounds.
While the overall export total was very similar to January 2020, exports to particular countries showed fairly large increases or decreases. Out of the top seven export destinations, January showed stronger exports to South Korea (up 26 percent), Canada (up 8 percent), and China (up 759 percent) as compared to January 2020. Exports to Japan were down about 11 percent according to the data. Also lower were exports to Mexico (down 17 percent), Hong Kong (down 42 percent), and Taiwan (down 26 percent).
Beef exports to Mainland China showed by far the largest increase in January compared to a year ago. During January 2020, U.S. beef exports to China accounted for 1.1 percent of total exports for the month which ranked China as the 11th highest destination for U.S. beef. In January 2021, 9.2 percent of total U.S. beef exports went to China and this was the 5th highest destination. The 22.5 million pounds of beef exported to China during January 2021 helped to offset the large decrease in exports to Hong Kong.
On the import side, beef imports from Australia declined sharply (down 47 percent) while imports from New Zealand were up about 46 percent. Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and Australia were again the top four beef import sources and collectively accounted for 81 percent of beef imports during January 2021.
Beef trade in 2021 is expected to recover from the disruptions during 2020 that drastically impacted beef exports and imports during the middle of the year. USDA estimates from the WASDE suggest an increase in beef exports of about six percent during 2021 as compared to 2020 while imports are expected to be down about 10 percent. The pace of continuing recovery in beef demand in international destinations will be a key driver for beef exports moving forward and for the value that beef exports add to cattle production.
Source : osu.edu