November U.S. beef exports exceed 35.2 million pounds

The global appetite for U.S. beef continues to grow. For the fifth week in a row (Nov. 5-11), beef exports exceeded 35.2 million pounds and remained well above pre-BSE 2003 levels, according to a report from the U.S. Meat Export Federation, a checkoff contractor.

Exports to Mexico (8.8 million pounds) continued their rebound, and volumes remained strong to other markets, including Korea (5.7 million pounds), Japan (4.9 million pounds), Vietnam (4.4 million pounds) and Canada (4.2 million pounds), helping to ensure a very strong finish to 2010.

The value of beef exports in September 2010 equated to $151 per head of steer and heifer slaughtered and accounted for 11 percent of total U.S. production. This compares to $118.17 per head in September of 2009 when exports were 9.5 percent of total production. For the first nine months of 2010, the value of exports per head is $145.07 per head, which is $8.60 more than values in 2003.