Beef Exports Reported Record March
US Beef and Pork exports closed a strong 1st quarter, as March was the best month ever for red meat export value at $1.3 billion. U.S. Meat Export Federation economist Erin Borror said beef exports were coming off a record value year, which made the 1st quarter numbers even more impressive.
“Korea is really the big story, roughly 35% growth in the chilled volume. And when I was in Korea earlier this year, it was absolutely evident that the market is on fire and they’re having essentially a steak craze over there. Just a super exciting red hot market.
She noted Japan is also taking additional chilled beef shipments, but frozen exports were slowed by the safeguard still in place from 2017. That tariff which expired at the end of March went from 50% to 38.5%, and Borror says she expects those frozen volumes to pick back up.
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