Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 4/16/14


U.S. pork and beef exports to Mexico excelled through February, but the market is a mix of great potential and challenges, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Pork exports to Mexico rose 16 percent in volume and 21 percent in value through February year over year. But Tom Griffiths, who represents the Indiana Soybean Alliance on USMEF’s board of directors and recently visited Mexico to examine the pork market, said there is even greater potential in Mexico.

Some 90 percent of Mexican imports consists of U.S. pork, but that only makes up 36 percent of Mexico’s total pork consumption combining imports and domestic pork. Griffiths said Mexico’s consumption is “minute” when compared to that of other major buyers such as Canada, Japan, China and Russia. If marketing efforts can prompt per-capita consumption “up a little bit,” he said, “it would be phenomenal.”

Beef exports, meanwhile, were up 26 percent in volume and 40 percent in value through February.
Chad Russell, USMEF regional director for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic, said while Mexico is short on beef due to severe drought, record high U.S. beef prices will make such results difficult to sustain throughout 2014.

“If our prices of U.S. beef were of historical levels, it would be a great opportunity to ship more product down there, but the problem is our prices are not at that level at this point,” he said.

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