Meat&Poultry - January 2012 - 36

INTERNATIONAL TRADE OUTLOOK

agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama (as well as eliminating some sanitary/phyto sanitary and technical trade barriers in these and other markets), the US pork industry anticipates great opportunities with those countries. Growth in China should also occur, she adds. US pork products typically exported to the industry’s top-five markets include:
Hendricks

shipping and transportation logistics, vulnerability to foreign animal disease and the threat of terrorism, she adds. Competitive prices on the global market, even at the record price levels seen last year, are driving demand for US pork, says USMEF’s Seng. “Pork is also a relatively affordable, high-quality protein and is preferred by consumers in many of our markets,” he says. US industry can export large volumes of preferred pork cuts consistently throughout the year to Japan, as

dation for US pork to South Korea at a higher level, and the FTA will help the US expand its leading market share, as duties of 25 percent on the most commonly exported US pork items for South Korea will be reduced to 16 percent upon implementation sometime early this year. Increasing international competition will be a major challenge for US pork exports this year. Consider that South Korea imports pork from 23 nations, , while Hong Kong buys from 69. Countries holding the most promise for US pork exports this year include Japan and Mexico, which have provided continued steady growth in

• Mexico – Hams,

picnics, butts, skins, trim and feet. • Japan – Loins, picnics, butts, bellies, back ribs, tenderloins, jowls, rectum, tongue and intestine. • South Korea – Butts, single-rib bellies, collar butts, picnics, spareribs, neck bones, backbones and variety meats. • China – Butts, loins, ribs and variety meats. • Canada – Split carcasses, loins, hams and processed meats. Major trends driving US pork exports include hog disease in other countries, costs and increasing global consumption and middle-class incomes, Hendricks says. “The US is the low-cost and efficient producer with high pigs per sow and feed efficiencies,” she says. Due to global population increases and other countries’ inability to be self-sufficient, the US pork industry is expected to increase exports – which totals around 33 percent of the world’s market share today, Hendricks says. The biggest challenges facing US pork exports this year include feed efficiency and availability, input costs, animal activists, trade barriers, trade policies, non-technical trade restrictions, political shifts, economic instability,

Ch ick en
“US chicken exports are flying high.”
well as high-value chilled pork. It can also meet demand for frozen processing items in Japan, Russia and China. Mexico and Canada are large chilled pork markets, where the US benefits from proximity and the North American Free-Trade Agreement, especially now that Mexico has removed the retaliatory trucking duties from bone-in hams and shoulders, Seng says. Once implemented, The KORUS FTA will be favorable for US pork. “But we expect a bit of a slowdown or possibly steady exports in 2012 after the record volumes exported in 2011 as the South Korean industry has been rapidly rebuilding,” Seng says. Last year provided a strong foun-

top export markets; Central and South America, which also have provided continued steady growth with the additional benefit of newly implemented Colombia and Panama FTAs; and Russia, due to the pending implementation of WTO accession-agreed TRQs.

Chicken exports soar
US chicken exports are flying high. From January to October 2010, US broiler part exports totaled 2,604,230 metric tons; whole chickens, 113,306 metric tons; and prepared chicken and sausages, 63,102 metric tons. From January through October 2011, these totals were 2,756,465 metric tons, 152,173 metric tons and 69,345 metric tons, respectively, according to the National Chicken Council. US chicken parts from January through October 2011 were up 6 percent on quantity, but 18 percent on value. With the increase of 18 percent in value, the US is getting more per lb. than it did a year ago, says Bill Roenigk, NCC senior vice president. “The question for 2012 is [chicken leg quarter] prices are likely to move up,

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