USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service recently released the latest Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade report. The report provides estimates for production, consumption and trade for beef, pork and chicken for major countries.
Mexico continues to develop as a major beef exporting country. In recent years, Mexican beef production has continued to grow while total domestic consumption has been relatively stable, leading to growing beef exports from the country. Current USDA projections for 2023 have Mexico as the number 10 beef exporting country in the world.
Over 80% of Mexican beef exports go to the U.S., although other global markets have been receiving larger amounts of Mexican beef in recent years. Beef imports from Mexico have accounted for 18.9% of total U.S. beef imports, and in 2021, Mexico was the second largest source of U.S. beef imports, accounting for a record 20.2% share of the total.
Mexico continues to be a significant beef importer, with total beef imports relatively steady in the last decade. However, the current level of Mexican beef imports is about half of the peak level in the previous decade. The majority of Mexican beef imports originate in the U.S.
Beef exports from the U.S. to Mexico were relatively steady in the decade prior to the pandemic, albeit at levels significantly lower compared to the peak levels in the 2000s. However, U.S. beef exports to Mexico decreased the past two years, with 2021 down 30% from 2018. Mexico has dropped from being the number three market for U.S. beef exports to number five, behind Japan, South Korea, China/Hong Kong and Canada.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Mexican beef imports were a matter of supplementing the total supply of beef to meet demand in the country. As domestic production and exports have developed, Mexico has been a net exporter of beef since 2015. Mexican beef exports and imports are now more a matter of specific product flows in and out to match domestic demand and increased value opportunities in global markets, similar to the economic role of beef trade in the U.S. and Canada. Mexico is the largest source of imported beef cuts that are marketed directly to consumers in the U.S.
Historically, Mexico had a comparative advantage in cow-calf production, with many of the feeder cattle exported to the U.S. for growing, finishing and processing. For the past 20 years, the U.S. has imported roughly 1.2 million head of cattle from Mexico annually. In 2021, lower cattle imports, combined with increased cattle exports to Mexico, resulted in the lowest net cattle imports since 2016.
Thus far in 2022, reduced cattle imports and increased cattle exports have reduced net cattle imports sharply and are projected to lead to annual net cattle imports of roughly 700,000 head, the lowest total since 2008. It is unclear if the current reduction in net cattle flows from Mexico to the U.S. is a short-term or long-term change. Short-term production conditions (e.g., droughts) do not appear to be the explanation, although cattle numbers do change year to year.
The change may be more long term in nature, as the continued development of beef production and net exports in Mexico may be a reason for smaller cattle exports in the coming years. Mexico continues to develop the finishing and processing infrastructure to retain more cattle in the country for value-added production. Time will tell how beef and cattle flows in Mexico continue to develop. — Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist
