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U.S. pork exports to Mexico reach historic levels
Story Date: 4/24/2013
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Source: Andre Sulluchuco, MEATINGPLACE, 4/24/13
The Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (Sagarpa) reported that more than 600,000 tons of U.S. pork were imported into Mexico during 2012, an increase of 25 percent compared to the previous year.
However, these “historic level” imports have led to multi-million dollars losses for local Mexican pork producers, José Luis Caram Inclán, president of the Mexican Pork Producers Confederation, said in an interview with Mexican news agency Milenio.
Caram added that local consumption of U.S. produced pork has only increased within the past year.
“For every imported kilo, we can lose anywhere from 25 cents to 30 cents. It turns into a $32 loss per hog. If we consider that the equivalent to 50,000 hogs are imported every day, then we have losses beyond $1.6 million on a daily basis,” he said.
As a result, Caram said, local pork producers experienced a $65.2 million loss in the first three months of the year.
“It costs us $1.60 to produce one kilo. The U.S. sends us their pork products at $1.45 per kilo. It should be at least at $2.30,” Caram said.
According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), however, Mexico has a “big appetite” for U.S. produced ham.
The USMEF reported that 60,949 tons of pork products were sold in Mexico in 2012, a 12 percent increase over the previous year, which generated $100 million in sales.
USMEF hopes that this tendency will continue strong in 2013, per Mexican news agency Milenio, based on Mexican consumers’ preference for higher quality products and on the rise of the local middle class.
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