U.S. beef imports are forecast to run 19 percent above the 2013 level and total 2.68 billion pounds this year, according to USDA in its monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry report.“Imports have picked up in recent months owing to lower domestic beef production and strong consumer demand,” the report noted. “Strong import demand is expected to continue through 2015 due to lower U.S. beef supplies and strong U.S. beef prices expected to draw supplies from abroad.” Beef imports, mostly from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, tend to be processing-grade meat.
Broilers
In the same report, the U.S. broiler meat production estimate for 2014 was increased by 50 million pounds, 20 million pounds higher in both the third and fourth quarters. This raises the estimate for the second half of 2014 to 19.6 billion pounds, an increase of 1.7 percent from the same period in 2013.
Poultry Trade
Broiler shipments totaled 633.2 million pounds in July 2014, an increase of 2.0 percent from a year earlier.
