August’s $1bn was “a huge milestone” for US beef exports
US beef exports reached a new value record in August, bringing in more than $1 billion. This is the first time monthly beef export revenues have exceeded $1 billion.
According to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF), there were record shipments to China and the largest shipment of the year so far to Japan. This helped take the total volume of beef exports for the month to more than 130,000 tonnes.
This figure represents an increase of 21% year on year. It’s the second-largest shipment, in terms of volume, this year, but in terms of revenue, August’s figures are the highest. Beef exports rose in value by 55% to reach $1.04 billion.
For the year to date, the cumulative figures for US beef show shipments of 955,000 tonnes, an increase in volume of 18% compared to the first eight months of last year, and revenues of $6.6 billion, an increase of 34%.
USMEF pointed out that these figures are ahead of those for 2018, by 6% in volume and 20% in value. The significance of this is that 2018 was a record year for US beef exports.
The organisation’s president, Dan Halstrom, said revenues of more than $1 billion in a single month represented “a huge milestone” for the US beef industry. He said: “The August export results would be impressive under any circumstances, but achieving these totals despite all the covid-related obstacles at home and overseas is truly remarkable.”
