Both U.S. beef and U.S. pork exports are on a record pace through September 2021, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Beef exports posted one of the best months on record in September 2021, with value climbing nearly 60 percent above last year. Pork export volume was slightly below last September 2021, but value still increased 8 percent.
Beef exports continued to soar in September 2021 at 123,628 metric tons (mt), up 20 percent from a year ago and the fourth largest volume of the post-BSE era. Export value jumped 59 percent to $954.1 million—the second highest month on record, trailing only August 2021. For the first three quarters of 2021, beef exports increased 18 percent from a year ago to 1.08 million mt, valued at $7.58 billion—up more than $2 billion (36 percent) from the same period last year. Compared to the record year of 2018, January to September 2021 exports were 7 percent higher in volume and up 24 percent in value.