The USDA released meat export numbers for October and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) compiled them stating U.S. pork and beef exports in have edged higher than the previous month, but were still down from a year ago.
Pork exports were down 3 percent year-over-year in volume to 177,191 metric tons (mt), and fell 21 percent in value to $447.8 million, reflecting lower global pork prices. Through the first 10 months of the year, exports were down 4 percent in volume (1.76 million mt) and were 17 percent lower in value ($4.65 billion).
Similar to the previous two months, pork muscle cut exports improved significantly year-over-year in October, increasing 8 percent to 141,923 mt. But the total results were again held back by weak variety meat exports, which fell 31 percent to 35,268 mt (see editor’s note below).
October beef exports rebounded to some degree from their low September totals, but were still down 14 percent from a year ago in volume (94,524 mt) and fell 26 percent (to $508.2 million) compared to the record-high value posted in October 2014 ($687.1 million). Through the first 10 months of 2015, beef exports were down 12 percent in volume to 877,229 mt and were 10 percent lower in value at $5.28 billion.