US Beef Exports Improving in Asian Markets

This week, there was good news for US beef exporters as recent data showed May beef export volume increased 12 per cent from a year ago to 219.3 million pounds.

The rise was driven by improvements in exports to Japan, South Korea and Mexico, the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) reported.

“With domestic beef supplies being very tight in both Japan and Korea, our spring marketing campaigns have focused on presenting US beef as a high-quality, reasonably priced alternative,” said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng – click here to read more.

Analysts Steve Meyer and Len Steiner said this week that US beef exports had benefited from the lower prices of US product relative to Australian products on the Asian markets.

The analysts added: “Australian cattle supplies are extremely tight and cattle prices there have hit all time record highs. This is due to extreme liquidation in the last three years and a modest improvement in moisture conditions.” – Read more.

In other news, Canada has improved market access for its beef exports recently, with first Mexican markets to be reopened to older cattle from 1 October, and now Taiwan’s markets reopened.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) President Dan Darling welcomed the news.

“When the border is open, Taiwan is usually one of our top 10 export markets for Canadian beef,” he said. “All of these market expansions are important; every gain in market access supports competition for Canadian beef.” - Read more.