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2009 pork and beef exports start 2010 on upward trend

By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

DYSART, Iowa — While year-end exports of both U.S. pork and beef for 2009 were down compared to 2008, U.S. exports were equaled or even greater than America’s major global competitors – and would continue an upward trend in 2010.

That’s according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) in its latest report, released last month.
“I think pork producers should be encouraged by the continued strong demand for pork and pork products around the globe,” said John Weber, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Assoc. (IPPA) and Dysart pork producer.

In fact, Weber said for the global economic conditions that U.S. pork producers have had, on top of the fallout from the H1N1 episode, the news is still very encouraging.

“With nearly 22 percent of our nation’s pork production being exported, these markets are extremely important to our industry,” he said. “The most encouraging news is the potential for further growth in our export business.

“A big boost would be the passage of several free trade agreements that are pending in Congress: the Korean Free Trade Agreement, the Panama Free Trade Agreement, and the Columbia Free Trade Agreement,” Weber added.

Although U.S. pork exports trailed 2008 figures, the report said it still far surpassed any previous year’s numbers. For the entire year, the USMEF said U.S. export volume of 1.87 million metric tons (4.11 billion pounds) trailed the record pace of 2008 by 9 percent, while value ($4.33 billion) was down by 11 percent.

In addition, compared to 2007, U.S. exports have expanded in a two-year period, with 2009 pork/pork variety meat exports exceeding 2007 levels by 43 percent in volume and 37 percent in value, the report said.

The USMEF said U.S. red meat exports finished 2009 on “a positive note with healthy gains in volume over December of a year ago,” which has subsequently set in motion an upward trend for this year’s exports in both beef and pork exports.

“U.S. pork exports closed the year with an 8 percent jump in volume and 6 percent in value for the month of December compared to year-ago totals,” the report said. “For the calendar year, pork exports registered the second-highest total in history, but fell 9 percent in volume and 11 percent in value behind the record-setting totals of 2008.”

However, the USMEF said, based on available data, U.S. pork exports still outpaced the performance of global competitors, which plummeted 15 percent in value for the year, led by a 22 percent drop for European Union pork producers.

At the same time, U.S. beef exports, which rose 9 percent in volume and 4 percent in value for the month of December compared to 2008, performed equally with pork.

The report said in 2009, beef exports finished about 9 percent below 2008 in volume (or 1.98 billion pounds) and about 15 percent lower in value ($3.08 billion).

When examined more closely, however, the report added that U.S. beef exports faired well, despite the global economy, which had a strong impact on beef demand and may have benefited pork.

“For all of 2009, global beef export value (estimated from available trade data) fell 16 percent, with Brazil’s export value tumbling 23 percent and Australia’s falling 18.5 percent,” the report said.
USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng said U.S. beef exports for all of 2009 dipped 9 percent in volume and 15 percent in value compared to 2008.

“It’s been a challenging year for beef and pork producers around the globe, not just in the United States,” he said. “However, it is encouraging to see consumer confidence returning and very positive signs of growth.”

Bill Tentinger, Le Mars pork producer and IPPA vice president of resources, said despite the challenging year, American producers still performed well.

“It’s great to see that the U.S. pork industry was able to fair so well during 2009 compared to our competitors in a year that had so many negative issues occur,” he said.

“We all knew that 2008 was a banner year for exports and that was going to be a tough act to follow. There were several things that occurred in the world that helped to increase demand for pork significantly in 2008,” he added.

As a result, Tentinger said since the export business is more of a long-term project and long-term trends need to be watched closely, the 2009 increase over the 2007 export figures is the real important news here.

“It appears to me that the U.S. pork industry will continue to build on the business that we have done in the past,” he said. “The reason for that is the world has come to realize that the U.S. can supply a safe product in the quantity desired at a competitive price.”

According to the report, Mexico was the volume leader with 1.11 billion pounds valued at $762.35 million – which was an increase of 27 percent and 10 percent, respectively, over 2008.

As for Japan. U.S. pork fell just short ($1.54 billion versus $1.545 billion) of the value record set in 2008. The report said this was achieved despite an increase of about 5 percent in Japan’s domestic pork production. The U.S. share of Japan’s imported pork market also reached an all-time high of 46 percent.
To view the USMEF’s full report, visit www.usmef.org

3/3/2010