Pork Highlights MAY 2020:

Pork: 208,474 mt, +21%, $544 million, +13%
PVM: 35,349 mt, -23%, $77 million, -12%
Pork + PVM: 243,823 mt, +12%, $621 million, +9%

January-MAY 2020:

Pork: 1.135 million mt, +36%, $3.069 billion, +41%
PVM: 211,076 mt, +6%, $464 million, +18%
Pork + PVM: 1.346 million mt, +30%, $3.533 billion, +37%

May pork muscle cut exports slowed to the lowest level since last October but were still up 21% or +36,300 mt from last year at 208,474 mt. China/HK continued to lead the growth (+68,300 mt), and exports were also higher to the ASEAN (+1,500 mt), Taiwan (+1,200 mt), and the Caribbean + DR (+90 mt). Exports were lower year-over-year to Mexico (=8,600 mt), Japan (-8,500 mt), South America (-7,700 mt), Korea (-4,600 mt), Australia/NZ (-3,000 mt), Canada (-1,700 mt), and Central America (-1,000 mt). Pork muscle cuts to China/HK set a new record at 88,788 mt, up 334% (previous record was 84,862 mt in Dec for muscle cuts). Exports were higher to both China (86,396 mt, +347%) and Hong Kong (2,392 mt, +111%). Tighter production and higher prices limited exports to Mexico (31,771 mt, -21%), Japan (26,781 mt, -24%), Korea (15,703 mt, -23%), and Canada (13,289 mt, -12%), but exports to both Korea and Canada increased from April to May. Exports to Australia (6,949 mt, -31%) were up slightly from April but remained below last year’s high levels, while exports to New Zealand (1,025 mt, +11%) were the sixth highest on record. Exports to the Dominican Republic (3,485 mt, +8%) were up from last May but were lower than May 2017 and 2018. In South America, exports slowed from April to May and were lower year-over-year to Colombia (2,933 mt, -72%) and Chile (2,495 mt, -6%), but exports were higher to Peru (426 mt, +42%). In Central America, exports were lower to Honduras (2,272 mt, -15%), Panama (1,085 mt, -7%), and Guatemala (745 mt, -49%), but exports to Nicaragua (886 mt, +40%) were the third highest on record and exports to Costa Rica (795 mt, +12%) also increased. Exports to Taiwan (1,940 mt, +158%) were the highest since March 2019. Exports were lower to the Philippines (1,785 mt, -7% but slightly higher than April), while exports maintained momentum to Vietnam (1,263 mt, +202%) and were the highest since 2017 to Singapore (1,126 mt, +203%). Like beef, pork muscle cut exports were also higher to Trinidad and Tobago (471 mt, +40% and the highest since April 2019).

May pork variety meat exports slowed to 35,349 mt, down 23% or -10,500 mt from last year and the lowest since last February. Exports were higher to the Caribbean + DR (+130 mt), but were lower to all other main destinations: Mexico (-6,250 mt), ASEAN (-1,000 mt), China/HK (-1,000 mt), Korea (-750 mt), Japan (-700 mt), Canada (-540 mt), Central America (-180 mt), South America (-130 mt), and Taiwan (-30 mt). Combined exports to China/HK totaled 24,032 mt, down 4% year-over-year and the lowest since January. Exports were higher to China (22,474 mt, +48%), but exports to Hong Kong (1,558 mt, -84%) dropped to the lowest level in years. Exports slowed further from April to May to Mexico (1,558 mt, -84%), Canada (1,340 mt, -29%), Korea (700 mt, -52%), Japan (384 mt, -65%), and Taiwan (367 mt, -8%).

Exports were lower to both the Philippines (520 mt, -50%) and Vietnam (149 mt, -79%). Exports were strong to Colombia (373 mt, +157%) but were lower to Chile (136 mt, -65%). Exports were lower to Guatemala (325 mt, -27%) but increased to Panama (210 mt, +58% and the highest since August). Exports to Trinidad and Tobago (205 mt, +35%) were the highest since last February (and otherwise the highest since 2010).

American Pork & Variety Meat Export Value in May 2020

American Pork & Variety Meat Export Volume in May 2020

January – May total pork and variety meat exports were up 311,000 mt from last year. Exports to China/HK were up 353,000 mt year-over-year, but exports were also higher to Japan (+10,400 mt), ASEAN (+2,600 mt), Central America (+870 mt), Caribbean + DR (+810 mt), and Africa (+270 mt), and exports were steady to Canada. Exports were lower to Korea (-22,400 mt), South America (-16,600 mt), Mexico (-9,100 mt), Taiwan (-3,000 mt), the EU (-520 mt), and the Russia region (-50 mt).

May pork exports accounted for 33.3% of pork production and 36.2% when including variety meats as compared to 23.3% and 27.3% for May 2019. January – May pork exports accounted for 30.0% of pork production and 33.0% when adding variety meats, up from 22.1% and 25.4% for January – May 2019. With the decrease in production in May, the share of pork exported was record high (up from 32.3% in April) and the share of pork and pork variety meats exported was steady with the record set in April at 36.2%.

May pork export value per head averaged $72.30/head, up $17.46/head or +32% from $54.84/head last May, and was the second highest value after $72.55/head in April. For January – May, pork export value per head slaughtered averaged $67.33/head, up $18.59/head or +38% from $48.74/ head last year.

SOURCE: USMEF