U.S. beef exports close big first half with solid June results

If the trend established in the first six months of the year holds up, U.S. beef exports are likely to set several new records in 2011 and could eclipse the $5 billion mark for the first time ever. According to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program, June beef exports achieved the second-highest value ever at $461.8 million. This was 23 percent higher than June 2010, and has been surpassed only once – by the March 2011 value total of $475.2 million. In terms of volume, June beef exports reached 245 million pounds – an increase of 15 percent over June 2010. This brought the cumulative 2011 total to 1.4 billion pounds valued at $2.55 billion, which was 25 percent higher in volume and 40 percent higher in value than last year’s pace. For the first half of this year, beef exports equated to 13.8 percent of total production with an export value of $192.42 per head of fed slaughter. The United States has also recaptured its position as the world’s leading beef exporter, outpacing Australia and Brazil. Tremendous June results in Mexico and Canada firmly established their positions as the No. 1 and No. 2 markets for U.S. beef...more