Monthly U.S. Pork & Variety Meat Export Volume in July 2020

Pork Highlights July 2020:

Pork: 190,248 mt, -0.4%, $479 million, -11%
PVM: 31,787 mt, -25%, $69 million, -18%
Pork + PVM: 222,035 mt, -5%, $548 million, -12%

January – July 2020:

Pork: 1.503 million mt, +26%, $4.002 billion, +25%
PVM: 272,312 mt, -4%, $596 million, +6%
Pork + PVM: 1.775 million mt, +20%, $4.598 billion, +22%

July pork muscle cut exports were up 7% from June (but were otherwise the lowest since October) at 190,248 mt, down 0.4% from last year or down just -700 mt. Exports were higher to China/HK (+10,500 mt), ASEAN (+3,700 mt), Canada (+1,800 mt), Taiwan (+1,000 mt), Caribbean + DR (+660 mt), and the Russia region (+350 mt). Exports were lower to Mexico (-7,800 mt), South America (+3,950 mt), Aus/NZ (+3,300 mt), Korea (-1,500 mt), Japan (-1,300 mt), Central America (-950 mt), and the EU (-130 mt). July exports to China (53,481, +24%) slowed to the lowest level since October, and exports to Hong Kong (1,530 mt, -1%) were down slightly from last year. Exports to Mexico (48,337 mt, -14%) and Canada (18,201 mt, +11%) were the highest since March, and exports to Japan (28,942 mt, -4%) rebounded from the May-June levels, but exports to Korea (9,686 mt, -13%) slowed in July (although down less than the usual seasonal from June to July). July exports to Australia (3,959 mt, -43%) slowed to the lowest level since 2017, but exports to New Zealand (986 mt, -22%) rebounded somewhat from June. Exports to Colombia (3,919 mt, -23%) were up from less than 3,000 mt in May/June, but remained below a year-ago, and exports to Chile (1,897 mt, -58%) also rebounded from June’s low. Exports to the Philippines (3,659, +95%) were the highest since October 2018, and exports to Vietnam (2,443 mt, up from just 108 mt last year) were the second highest monthly volume on record after July 2008. Exports to the Dominican Republic (2,783 mt, +31%) have been above year-ago all year except for April, and exports-maintained momentum in July. Exports were also higher year-over-year to Trinidad and Tobago (379 mt, +109%) and the Bahamas (351 mt, +1%). Exports to Honduras (2,716 mt, -4%), Panama (924 mt, -10%), Nicaragua (460 mt, -44%) and Costa Rica (456 mt, -38%) slowed from June to July, but exports increased from June to July for Guatemala (1,115 mt, -4%) and El Salvador (512 mt, -8%). Exports to Taiwan (1,640 mt, +156%) were again above year-ago in July, like May and June.

Pork variety meat exports were down 23% year-over-year in May, down 30% in June, and down 25% in July at 31,787 mt, (-10,500 mt from last year). Exports were higher to Canada (+610 mt), the ASEAN (+230 mt), and Taiwan (+90 mt) and were steady to South America, but exports were lower to China/HK (-7,300 mt), Mexico (-3,200 mt), Japan (-450 mt), Central America (-340 mt), Korea (-110 mt), and Caribbean + DR (-40 mt). Exports to China (16,311 mt, -8%) were up 6% from June but were below year-ago levels, and exports slowed to Hong Kong (531 mt, -92% and the lowest since 2007). Exports to Mexico (7,848 mt, -29%) were the highest since March, and exports to Canada (2,160 mt, +39%) were the highest since 2017. Exports to the Philippines (981 mt, +74%) were the highest since March but remained below first quarter levels, while exports to Vietnam (480 mt, -28%) were the highest since January. Exports to Chile (924 mt, -16%) were the highest since last October, and exports to Colombia (246 mt, up from 20 mt last year) were higher year-over-year but were the second lowest monthly volume so far this year. Exports to Korea (496 mt, -19%) and Japan (351 mt, -56%) remained below year-ago levels.

Exports were strong to Guatemala (351 mt, -31%) but were down from last year’s high level, while exports to Panama (300 mt, +49%) were the highest since 2018. Exports to Taiwan (143 mt, +192%) slowed to the lowest level since January.

January – July pork and variety meat exports totaled 1.775 million mt, up 20% or +294,050 mt from last year. Exports were higher to China/HK (+383,300 mt), ASEAN (+7,400 mt), Canada (+2,200 mt), Caribbean + DR (+1,650 mt), Japan (+820 mt), Russia region (+690 mt), and Africa (+320 mt), while exports were lower to Mexico (-31,300 mt), Korea (-27,500 mt), South America (-28,900 mt), Aus/NZ (-12,700 mt), Taiwan (-1,700 mt), EU (-680 mt), and Central America (-610 mt).

July pork exports accounted for 24.0% of pork production and 26.0% when including variety meats as compared to 25.9% and 29.3% for July 2019. January – July pork exports accounted for 27.9% of pork production and 30.7% when adding variety meats, up from 22.9% and 26.3% for January – July 2019.

July pork export value per head averaged $48.85/head, down $10.07/head or -17% from $58.92/head last July. For January – July, pork export value per head slaughtered averaged $61.40/head, up $10.07/head or +20% from $51.33/ head last year.

SOURCE: USMEF