Statistics & Information

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Table 1. U.S. beef industry
Year Averaged annual U.S. retail Choice beef price ($/lb)* Retail equivalent value of U.S. beef industry ($ billion) Total U.S. beef consumption (billion lb) Value of U.S. cattle and calf production ($ billion) U.S. beef production (commercial carcass weight, billion lb) U.S. beef exports (commercial carcass weight, billion lb) U.S. beef exports (value in $ billion) U.S. beef exports as percent of production (%)
2002 3.32 60 27.9 27.1 27.09 2.447 2.629 9.0
2003 3.75 63 27.0 32.1 26.24 2.518 3.186 9.6
2004 4.07 70 27.8 34.8 24.55 0.460 0.631 1.9
2005 4.09 71 27.8 36.6 24.68 0.697 1.031 2.8
2006 3.97 71 28.1 35.6 26.15 1.145 1.617 4.4
2007 4.16 74 28.1 36.0 26.42 1.434 2.187 5.4
2008 4.33 76 27.3 35.6 26.56 1.996 3.014 7.5
2009 4.26 73 26.8 32.0 26.07 1.935 2.909 7.4
2010 4.40 74 26.4 37.0 26.41 2.300 3.839 8.7
2011 4.81 79 25.5 45.2 26.28 2.785 5.041 10.6
2012 4.99 85 25.8 48.2 26.00 2.453 5.114 9.4
2013 5.29 88 25.5 48.5 25.70 2.589 5.721 10.1
2014 5.97 94 24.7 60.0 24.20 2.573 6.519 10.6
2015 6.29 105 24.8 60.0 23.70 2.266 5.621 9.6
*BSE was confirmed in the U.S. cattle herd in late December 2003.
Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Table 2. Cattle commercial slaughter and inventories (in million head)
Year U.S. commercial slaughter - Total U.S. commercial slaughter - Steers & heifers U.S. commercial slaughter - Cows Cattle & calf inventories - U.S. Cattle & calf inventories - Canada
2002 35.735 29.4 5.8 96.7 13.8
2003 35.494 28.7 6.1 96.1 13.5
2004 32.728 27.0 5.2 94.4 14.6
2005 32.388 27.0 4.9 95.0 14.9
2006 33.698 27.8 5.4 96.3 14.7
2007 34.264 27.9 5.8 96.6 14.1
2008 34.365 27.5 6.3 96.0 13.8
2009 33.338 26.5 6.2 94.7 13.0
2010 34.249 27.1 6.5 94.1 12.7
2011 34.409 26.7 6.8 92.9 12.2
2012 32.951 25.8 6.6 91.2 12.2
2013 32.462 25.5 6.4 90.1 12.3
2014 30.168 24.1 5.5 88.5 12.2
2015 28.752 23.0 5.2 89.1 11.9
Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

U.S. livestock outlook/situation:

Table 3a. U.S.-Canada Cattle and Beef Trade: U.S. Cattle Imports
Year Total
(million head)		 From Canada
(million head)¹		 Share from Canada
(%)
2002 2.503 1.686 67.0
2003 1.752 0.512 29.0
2004 1.371 * < 0.1
2005 1.816 0.559 31.0
2006 2.289 1.032 45.0
2007 2.495 1.405 56.0
2008 2.284 1.581 69.0
2009 2.002 1.061 53.0
2010 2.284 1.063 47.0
2011 2.107 0.686 33.0
2012 2.283 0.815 35.7
2013 2.03 1.04 51.1
2014 2.36 1.24 52.5
2015 1.98 0.83 41.9
¹Cattle shipments from Canada to the United States may include animals transshipped through Canada from Hawaii or Alaska.
*135 head.
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.
Table 3b. U.S.-Canada cattle and beef trade: U.S. beef and veal imports
Year Total
(billion lb, carcass weight)		 From Canada
(billion lb, carcass weight)¹		 Share from Canada
(%)		 Imports from Canada as share of U.S. beef consumptions (%)
2002 3.218 1.091 34.0 3.9
2003 3.006 0.74 25.0 2.7
2004 3.679 1.062 29.0 3.8
2005 3.599 1.092 30.0 3.9
2006 3.085 0.844 27.0 3.0
2007 3.052 0.789 26.0 2.8
2008 2.538 0.841 33.0 3.1
2009 2.627 0.812 31.0 3.0
2010 2.297 0.861 31.0 3.3
2011 2.056 0.689 34.0 2.7
2012 2.220 0.537 24.2 2.1
2013 2.250 0.538 23.9 2.1
2014 2.947 0.602 20.4 2.4
2015 3.370 0.628 18.6 2.5
¹Some products imported from Canada could be made from animals originally exported from the United States.
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service.
Table 4. Value of Canadian beef and cattle exports (in billion $ Canadian)
Year Live animals Beef products Total sales
2002 1.832 2.073 3.904
2003 0.592 1.378 1.970
2004 0.000 1.872 1.872
2005 0.628 1.781 2.409
2006 1.189 1.262 2.450
2007 1.545 1.133 2.678
2008 1.646 1.220 2.865
2009 1.122 1.149 2.271
2010 1.128 1.317 2.445
2011 0.890 1.196 2.086
2012 1.109 1.059 2.168
2013 1.357 1.148 2.502
2014 2.012 1.678 3.690
2015 1.757 1.957 3.714
Note: Live animals = HS 0102; Beef products = HS 160250, 0201, and 0202.
Source: World Trade Atlas.
Table 5. Top markets for U.S. beef
Year Japan volume (mpcw)* Japan value ($ million) Mexico volume (mpcw)* Mexico value ($ million) South Korea volume (mpcw)* South Korea value ($ million) Canada volume (mpcw)* Canada value ($ million)
2003 918 1,182 586 623 587 754 227 309
2004 12 31 333 393 1 2 56 105
2005 17 50 464 584 1 3 106 194
2006 52 105 660 786 1 4 239 415
2007 159 294 586 737 78 124 339 576
2008 231 439 759 895 152 291 389 683
2009 274 495 628 770 141 215 363 622
2010 351 662 500 669 277 504 391 731
2011 456 873 488 791 380 661 500 1,039
2012 449 1,000 352 647 305 548 467 1,189
2013 671 1,283 403 739 253 567 467 1,197
2014 662 1,419 435 943 301 824 364 1,052
2015 538 1,080 363 852 319 778 324 925
*mpcw stands for million lb carcass weight.
Note: BSE was confirmed in a U.S. cattle sample in late December 2003. Before BSE, countries included accounted for over 90 percent of U.S. beef exports. Volumes on a carcass weight basis.
Sources: USDA, Economic Research Service, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, and National Agricultural Statistics Service.

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