Sixteen years of U.S. meat export gains end
Total calendar 2002 U.S. meat exports are forecast to fall year-to-year for the first time since 1985, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has advised.
This fall is primarily attributed to a pullback in poultry exports, which are currently forecast to drop 11 percent from the previous year’s record level. Total U.S. meat exports are anticipated to recover in 2003, but are still forecast slightly below the 2001 record level.
U.S. beef exports for 2002 are projected at 1.0 million tons. U.S. beef exports haveremained between 1.0 and 1.1 million tons since 1999, reaching record levels in 2000.
The outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Japan, the US’s largest beef export market in September 2001, significantly reduced demand for beef into early 2002. Increased demand for less expensive pork and poultry cuts by Japan is also expected to constrain beef exports to that market in 2002.
However, for 2003, beef exports are forecast to increase to 1.1 million tons, as exports to Korea and Mexico remain strong.
