US pork exports remain ahead of 2017 pace, says USMEF
In the months of May and June, the US pork exports reported decreases caused by a lower demand in the China/Hong Kong market. USMEF says June exports totaled 191,303 mt, down 4.5% from a year ago, despite a slight increase in muscle cut exports (to 153,083 mt). June export value was $510.4 million, down 3%.
For the first half of 2018, pork export volume was still 2% ahead of last year’s record pace at 1.27 million mt, while value increased 5 percent to $3.36 billion. For pork muscle cuts only, first-half exports were up 6% year-over-year in both volume (1.02 million mt) and value ($2.78 million).
“Pork exports – and especially variety meats – face a very challenging environment in China/Hong Kong due not only to retaliatory duties but also because of increasing domestic production in China,” Halstrom explained. “On the positive side, exports are achieving solid growth in most other markets and reached new heights in destinations such as Korea and Latin America. So there is no time to dwell on factors the U.S. industry cannot control – we must continue to find new opportunities in both established and emerging markets.”
China increased its duty on the import of US pork and pork variety meats as of April from 12% to 27%, while in July it increased the taxe again to 62%. Meanwhile, USMEF explained that Mexico also imposed a 10% retaliatory duty on US pork muscle cuts in June and increased this rate to 20% in July.
Pork sausages and prepared hams entering Mexico are subject to duties of 15% and 20%, respectively, which took effect June 5. USMEF says that first-half export results reflect the first round of duties imposed by China and Mexico, but not the higher rates that took effect in July.
June pork exports accounted for 26.4% of total production, down from 27.1% a year ago, but the percentage of muscle cuts exported increased from 22.2% to 22.8%. First-half exports equaled 27.3% of total pork production (down from 27.8% a year ago) and 23.6% for muscle cuts (up from 23.1%). Pork export value averaged $53.13 per head slaughtered in June, down slightly from a year ago, while the first-half per-head average increased 2% to $55.18.
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