Even though November beef exports were lower than last year, 2022 beef export value already set a record of nearly $11 billion for the full year. The news comes from USDA data USDA compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

November beef exports were 115,777 metric ton. The USMEF says this is a drop of 6% from the previous year’s record volume. Beef export value dropped by almost 20% to $846.6 million. However, through the first 11 months of 2022, the value was still higher year-over-year by 14% at $10.9 billion. This exceeds the full-year record set in 2021, which was $10.58 billion. Export volume in the 11 months January-November was 1.36 million metric tons, a 3% increase over 2021’s record levels.

Through November, U.S. beef exports also set full-year value records in specific markets. Thiese include South Korea and China/Hong Kong, where exports topped $2.5 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively. Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore also hit new annual export value highs.

A USMEF news release said that results in November, as well as October, were influenced by “severe headwinds” in big Asian markets.  “Key currencies in the region were still slumping, which impacted the buying power of importers and consumers.” In addition, China’s continuing struggle with COVID and lockdowns eventually led to the end of many restrictions. The USMEF also noted that the U.S. dollar’s strength mainly peaked in late October and early November, however demand remained strong on a global level. “Even with a high level of economic uncertainty, 2022 has been a fantastic year for U.S. beef exports and the outlook for the coming year remains positive.”