Despite China Drop, Beef Enjoyed A Strong April

Exports of U.S. beef trended lower in April due in large part to obstacles in China.

“China we knew would have an off month in April. It was really the start of the disruption and the height of the tariffs, almost 150% tariffs on beef throughout April," said U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Dan Halstrom.  "So really not a surprise that we're down almost 70% on the China volume year-on-year.”

But, Halstrom pointed out the news wasn’t all bad.

“Korea, up 18%; very big number for Korea," Halstrom continued.  "Central America up big. You also had a pretty good month with Japan and also South America, good month. Although Chile and Peru had good numbers, really Colombia is the bright spot there. We've really been trying to regain share since last April when we had basically U.S. beef out of the market for about five or six months around this HPAI in dairy cattle issue. So, we've been trying to scramble and regain share. So, we're very excited about that.”

Halstrom added pork exports struggled in April, again because of China, but enjoyed strong numbers in Latin America.

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