With two months to spare, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) says the U.S. has exported a record “value” of pork and beef in 2011. In October, the group says pork exports set a new all-time monthly value record at $573.9 million (up 41% from last year), which pushed the cumulative value through October to a new annual record of $4.93 billion – breaking the previous high of $4.88 billion in 2008. Beef export value for October was $452 million, pushing the 2011 total to a new annual record of $4.49 billion -- 37% ahead of the then-record pace established in the first 10 months of 2010.
According to USDA data compiled by the USMEF, pork export volume for October was also very strong at 200,725 metric tons (MT) – 24% higher than last year and the second-largest volume total ever. Through October, 2011 export volume is 17% ahead of last year’s pace at 1.8 million MT. October exports equated to 24% of pork muscle cut production and 27% when including both muscle cuts and variety meat. For January through October, these ratios were 23% and 27%, respectively, compared to 19% and 24% last year. October exports equated to $58.42 per hog slaughtered, bringing the 2011 total to $54.68. This compares to $42.26 in October 2010 and $43.72 for all of last year.
October beef export volume was 105,912 MT, reports USMEF. This was 10% higher than October 2010 and pushed the 2011 volume total (1.073 million MT) 24% ahead of last year’s pace. October beef exports equated to 11% of beef muscle cut production and 13.9% of total production when including variety meat, which was consistent with the year-to-date ratio. This compares to 9% of beef muscle cut production and 11.7% of beef plus beef variety meat production exported last year. Exports equated to nearly $210 per head of fed slaughter in October, pushing the 2011 total to $202.82 per head. This is nearly $50 per head higher than last year’s average of $153.09.
