India’s beef/beef variety meat exports reportedly surged in December to a new monthly record of 220,065 mt, up 94 percent from a year ago. However, the export volume reported to Thailand (92,880 mt) was more than India’s reported exports to Thailand over the previous 11 months.

Adjusting India’s data to a more realistic number puts December exports at 136,265 mt, up 20 percent from December 2012. Total adjusted exports for 2013 were 1.3 million mt, up 22 percent from 2012 and nearly double the 2010 total.

This makes India the world’s second-largest exporter of beef/beef variety meats behind Brazil. On a value basis, India ($4.15 billion, +35 percent from 2012) ranks fourth behind Brazil ($6.34 billion), the United States ($6.157 billion) and Australia ($5.96 billion), but with a unit export value that is significantly lower than other major exporters:

India’s top export markets in 2013 (with percentage change from 2012) included Vietnam (494,611 mt, +68 percent), Malaysia (123,054 mt, +16 percent), Thailand (96,602 mt, +37 percent), Egypt (92,171 mt, +33 percent), Saudi Arabia (70, 616 mt, +1 percent), Jordan (46,878 mt, -25 percent), the Philippines (43,747 mt, steady), Algeria (43,163 mt, -7 percent), United Arab Emirates (43,117 mt, -2 percent), Iran (40,622 mt, -13 percent), Angola (32,414 mt, +5 percent), Iraq (28,045 mt, +17 percent).

Data sources: Global Trade Atlas and USMEF estimates