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Beef Helps Boost Total U.S. Exports to Russia
USAgNet - 08/26/2008

As export results for the first half of 2008 clearly indicate, Russia is emerging as one of the top destinations for U.S. beef. Closed to U.S. beef from late 2003 through almost all of 2007, Russia has quickly become the third-largest destination for U.S. beef variety meats and the seventh-largest market for overall exports of U.S. beef. Beef exports to Russia in the first half of the year totaled 11,194 metric tons (24.7 million pounds). Outstanding sales of about 6,800 metric tons (nearly 15 million pounds) suggest the volume of beef exports will remain strong in the coming months as well.

This strong performance confirms many positive market factors found by U.S. beef industry leaders who traveled to Russia and selected European Union nations earlier this summer, accompanied by senior staff members from the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Lucinda Williams, a beef producer from Hatfield, Mass., who serves as vice chairman of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, was one of the participants.

"We found that Russia has excellent growth potential for U.S. beef," Williams said. "There is growing beef consumption and demand, with declining production. That's a perfect setup for us."

She said astonishing growth is occurring throughout Russia's food industry channels, and the U.S. beef industry's diverse marketing efforts are paying off.

Williams noted that Russia's restaurant sector is experiencing particularly rapid growth, and is in constant need of more chefs. This has created an excellent training opportunity for USMEF, helping familiarize young chefs with creative and innovative dishes featuring U.S. beef.

As European Union nations deal with extremely high production costs and loss of access to imports from other beef-exporting countries, Europe is also becoming a growing market for U.S. beef. So far this year, beef exports to EU member nations have more than tripled in volume and value compared to the same period in 2007. Outstanding sales are also strong, so the industry expects to see a strong performance from this market in the second half of the year as well.