Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/14/10

Exports of U.S. beef and pork in October respectively rose 37 percent (to $375.3 million) and 9 percent (to $407.8 million) in value compared with the same month last year, according to USDA data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Beef surge pushed the year-to-date total to $3.28 billion, exceeding the total of $3.26 billion for the same period in record-setting 2003. Every major destination apart from Mexico experienced a significant increase in purchases.

“With two months of results still to come, we anticipate the possibility of setting a new export value record this year,” USMEF President and CEO Phil Seng said in a news release.

October results, meanwhile, put U.S. pork exports only 3.5 percent behind the all-time record pace of 2008 in terms of value. Mexico, the largest volume market for U.S. pork, already has broken the single-year value record ($762.3 million) it set in 2009. However, Mexico’s 5 percent tariff imposed on U.S. pork in retaliation for the cross-border trucking dispute has limited the potential in that market.

“While USMEF is please with the market penetration we have achieved in Mexico and the new opportunities we have developed, we can’t take this success for granted,” Seng said. “This market is more critical to us than ever, and we need to keep working to resolve this trade impasse.”

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