November Pork Export Value Highest Ever; Beef Exports also Remain Strong

November Pork Export Value Highest Ever; Beef Exports also Remain Strong

Russell Nemetz
Russell Nemetz
Hi everybody it's time for your Wednesday Agri Beef Minute here on the Ag Information Network of the West-I'm Russell Nemetz.

U.S. pork exports recorded the highest-ever monthly value in November while U.S. beef export value took another step toward a likely full-year value record, according to export results released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

November pork exports totaled 223,962 metric tons (mt), down slightly from a year ago. But through the first 11 months of 2017, export volume remained on pace for a new record at 2.23 million mt – up 7 percent year-over-year. November export value was a record-high $615.6 million, up 5 percent year-over-year and just the fourth time monthly export value has topped $600 million. Through November, pork export value increased 10 percent to $5.9 billion.

Exports accounted for 27.7 percent of total pork production in November (down slightly from November 2016) and 24.1 percent for muscle cuts only (up about one percentage point). For January through November, these ratios increased about one percentage point from a year ago to 26.5 percent of total production and 22.2 percent for muscle cuts. November pork export value averaged $58.38 per head slaughtered, up 6 percent from a year ago and the highest in six months. Through the first 11 months of the year, per-head export value averaged $53.18, up 7 percent.

Beef exports reached 111,915 mt in November, down 3 percent from the large volume of November 2016 but still the second-highest monthly total of the year. Export value was also the second-largest of 2017 at $666.4 million, up 8 percent year-over-year. January-November export volume totaled 1.15 million mt, up 7 percent, while export value climbed to $6.6 billion – up 15 percent from a year ago and slightly above the record pace established in 2014.

Beef exports accounted for 13.1 percent of total production in November, the highest since July but down from 14.9 percent in November 2016. For muscle cuts only, the percentage exported was 10.9 percent – down from 11.7 percent a year ago. For January through November, beef exports accounted for 12.8 percent of total production (down from 13.5 percent in 2016) and 10.3 percent for muscle cuts (steady with 2016).

November beef export value averaged $306.63 per head of fed slaughter, up 4 percent from a year ago and the highest in nearly three years. January-November export value averaged $282.34 per head, up 9 percent.

That's your Land and Livestock Report-I'm Russell Nemetz.

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