U.S. beef exports remained very strong in September while pork exports continued to be impacted by retaliatory duties in China and Mexico, according to data released by USDA and compiled by USMEF. Beef exports cooled from the record results posted in August, but were still significantly higher year-over-year. Pork muscle cut exports improved over last September’s volume, but were offset by sharply lower shipments of pork variety meat.
September beef exports totaled 110,160 metric tons (mt), up 6 percent from a year ago, valued at $687.1 million – up 11 percent. For January through September, beef exports were just over 1 million mt, up 9 percent from a year ago, while value surged 18 percent to $6.2 billion. For beef muscle cuts only, the year-over-year increases were even more impressive, jumping 13 percent in volume (777,740 mt) and 20 percent in value ($5.54 billion).