Demand for U.S. pork will continue to pick up pace, as the industry has seen in the past couple monthly export reports. Dr. Steve Meyer, an economist with Partners for Production Agriculture, which was recently acquired by Ever.Ag, said the key is to keep countries like Mexico at current buying levels, it will allow for expansion in other areas.
?They were record high last year and that’s one of the reasons we had such good ham prices,? Dr. Meyer said. ?So, if they stay in the market, we can grow to Australia, we think that’s going to jump back, they?re, not a major market.?
Dr. Meyer said we need to focus on the South American, Central American, and Caribbean countries we have free trade agreements with that are being fully realized with zero tariffs and zero quotas.
?Those will progress toward that in the next year,? Dr. Meyer said. ?And so, that’s really the low hanging fruit for our exports because you add those up and they have a population about the size of Mexico. So, I’m optimistic about that.?
Dr. Meyer also said that, as you look at our southern buyers, there are two markets: tourism and domestic.
?The domestic market is very price sensitive in all of those markets,? Dr. Meyer said. ?So, they’re going to buy relatively low value stuff. Now, hams at $1.20 last year, that’s not exactly low value, but Mexico has to have those because they’re their whole meat processing thing really is built on U.S. hams to a great degree.?
Dr. Meyer added that the Dominican Republic will continue to be a strong buyer, as they work through the issues from African swine fever. Visit Porkcheckoff.org for Checkoff-funded market information.
