Beef Exports Remained Strong In March

Red meat exports moved higher in the month of March.  Dan Halstrom, President and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said considering all of the uncertainty when it comes to trade and tariffs, one thing is clear; demand for American beef continues to be strong globally.

“In the month of March, we had our highest value month of exports in almost a year, with $922 million," Halstrom noted.  "And the encouraging thing is, it was a broad base of markets that really contributed to that. Taiwan came back with a very big month for them. Central America continues to be strong. Mexico, one of our larger export destinations, up 6% on the volume side, up 11% on the value side.”

Halstrom noted that despite the tariffs, trade war and more, China had steady numbers in March.  All-in-all, he noted 2025 started very strong.

“The performance on beef continues to be very, very strong. If you put that value of exports on a per head basis, we're at $467 per head.”

Halstrom added pork enjoyed a good first quarter as well, with nearly 270,000 metric tons exported in March, a 3% year-over-year increase.

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