U.S. beef exports for the week of March 6-12 totaled 12,200 metric tons (mt), up 3 percent from the previous four-week average, led by large volumes for Japan (4,000 mt, +32 percent) and an uptick to Canada (900 mt, +14 percent). Other major destinations were lower, including South Korea (2,300 mt, -7 percent), Hong Kong (1,900 mt, -12 percent), Mexico (1,400 mt, -20 percent) and Taiwan (600 mt, -5 percent).
Beef net sales were 11,600 mt, down 8 percent from the previous four-week average, as large sales for Japan (5,900 mt, +107 percent) were offset by smaller bookings for the other major markets such as Hong Kong (1,900 mt, -50 percent), Korea (1,400 mt, -29 percent), Mexico (1,100 mt, -33 percent), Taiwan (500 mt, -31 percent) and Canada (230 mt, -72 percent).
U.S. pork exports totaled 19,800 mt, up 9 percent from the previous four-week average, with larger volumes for Korea (3,900 mt, +19 percent), Japan (3,800 mt, +19 percent), China (1,400 mt, +455 percent and the first time since mid-December that exports have exceeded 1,000 mt) and Honduras (a record-high 700 mt, +228 percent). Exports trended lower for Mexico (6,400 mt, -9 percent), Canada (1,100 mt, -19 percent) and Australia (470 mt, -15 percent).
Pork net sales were 21,100 mt, up 2 percent from the previous four-week average, with larger sales to Mexico (8,600 mt, +41 percent), Canada (1,900 mt, +164 percent), Australia (1,200 mt, +221 percent) and Honduras (also a new record at 1,100 mt, +225 percent). Sales trended lower for Korea (3,100 mt, -11 percent) and Japan (2,800 mt, -41 percent). Net sales for China were negative (-35 mt) for the second consecutive week, following reported sales of 5,800 mt in late February.
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