Exports of U.S. beef trended higher than a year ago in January, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. January beef exports reached 102,840 metric tons, up 3 percent year-over-year, while value increased 5 percent to $804.6 million.
U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Dan Halstrom says growth was driven in part by larger exports to China and Canada.
“We had a very good month on Korea. China and Canada, as well, were both up. Central America had a huge month with a 24 percent increase on the value side,” Halstrom says. “One other point – real big positivity is a very, very big month on beef variety meats globally, with large growth there, led by both Mexico and Egypt.”
Plant Problem
While the business has been good the last half of 2024 and early 2025, Halstrom says there’s a cautionary note regarding China. He says there’s a large pending issue on plant eligibility in terms of registrations. He says quite a few plants out of the U.S. are scheduled to be renewed in mid-March — March 16.
“At this point, they have not been renewed, which is a little bit unusual,” he says.
Pork
On the pork side, exports in January were also strong, though slightly below the large totals from January 2024. Pork exports totaled 243,965 mt in January, down 3 percent from a year ago, while value eased 2 percent to $668 million.
Halstrom says the leading market was Mexico, which is nothing new.
“Mexico set records the last two years, and the month of January was our fourth largest export month ever on pork,” he says. “And in Central America, a huge month, volume up 22 percent and value up 30 percent.”
He says the common thread with the record-breaking growth countries is that they have some sort of duty-free access through free trade agreements.
“You’ve got Mexico and Canada on the USMCA side, you have Korea with their free trade agreement, Columbia-DR,” Halstrom explains. “So I don’t think it’s any coincidence that these are all markets where we have a preferential access. We do have to protect these longstanding relationships with these key trading partners.”
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