DENVER, Colo. – U.S. beef exports exceeded previous volume and value records in 2021, surpassing $10 billion for the first time, according to year-end data released by the USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

“The beef export results are truly remarkable, especially considering the COVID-19-related obstacles in the global foodservice sector, and all the supply-side and logistical challenges faced by the U.S. industry,” said Dan Halstrom, federation president and CEO.

“Obviously, our large Asian markets accounted for much of the growth, but it really takes broad-based global demand to reach these impressive levels,” he added. “So, this success story is not just about Korea, Japan and China, but also a strong performance in Taiwan, excellent growth in Central and South America, and a rebound in Mexico and Southeast Asia.”

Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University professor of agricultural economics, said what this means, as far as how the federation and the USDA obtain the numbers in the report, is “beef exports are part of the total demand for U.S. beef, and adds to the value of cattle.

“Beef exports also enhance domestic beef demand by moving out products that are less valuable in the U.S., but would be consumed, albeit at lower value, without exports,” he said. “This focuses domestic beef demand on products that have the most value in the U.S.”

He said the fastest growth is in the China/Hong Kong market, which increased from an average share of 10.8 percent in the previous five years, to 19.3 percent of total exports in 2021.

“That was an increase of 95.8 percent year over year,” he said. “China/Hong Kong could well be the largest market for U.S. beef in late 2022, or, more likely, in 2023.”

Andrew P. Griffith, University of Tennessee associate professor of agricultural economics, said what it also means is value is added to each head of cattle that is marketed in the United States: “The addition of international demand for U.S. beef, with domestic demand, simply supports cattle prices at higher levels.”

He added, “We knew China was going to be a primary destination for beef in 2021, based on the last several months in 2020. Was the exact quantity and value something predictable? Probably not, but there was no doubt the Chinese market is hungry for grain-finished beef products.”

He said another key point in the report is favorable trade agreements can help products move.

“Those trade agreements are just a confirmation that economics actually works, especially as it relates to South Korea and China,” he said. “If tariff rates are reduced, then it reduces the total cost of the product, and thus more is purchased. It is not rocket science, but it is basic economic theory working as one would expect.

“The reason I say it was not totally unexpected to have record quantity and value of exports is because it has been clear that beef demand domestically and internationally has been strong,” he added. “The setting of a quantity record may be more surprising than the value record due to some of the stated challenges.”

However, he said, “The market did not face all of those challenges for the entire 12 months of 2021, which means the market was not completely disrupted by each and every struggle as it could have been had there been a piling on of struggles all at once.”

He said the value side was no surprise since the price of beef was extremely elevated. “The United States did not have to export a large quantity of beef to achieve a record value because of beef price being high.” 

The report said U.S. pork exports finished slightly below the record volume reached in 2020, but set a new value record, topping $8 billion for the first time.

“Entering last year, we knew it would be a daunting task to match the record level of pork exports reached in 2020 because of the recovery in China’s swine herd and its rising domestic pork production,” Halstrom said.

“But the U.S. is less dependent on China than other major pork exporters and this is definitely reflected in the 2021 results,” he said. “Even with shipments to China falling nearly 30 percent, total U.S. exports posted a very strong performance, thanks to outstanding growth in Latin America”

To view the full report, visit: www.usmef.org