Compared to the first quarter of 2011, January-March export quantity of US poultry meat reached 984,947 metric tons, up 14 per cent, while the value of those shipments climbed to $1.302 billion, up 27 per cent, both of which are all-time records.

US poultry exports for the month of March also set quantity and value records, reaching 339,220 tons valued at $459.4 million, up 9.3 and 21.8 per cent, respectively, over March 2011.

Monthly exports of broiler meat - excluding chicken paws - in March were 269,755 tons, up 7 per cent from March 2011, while export value rose to $343.2 million, up 23 per cent, fueled by increased shipments to Cuba, Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan.

For the first quarter, broiler meat (excluding paws) exports were 787,722 tons valued at $796.3 million, up respectively by 14 and 31 per cent.

First-quarter broiler meat shipments to Mexico, the top market for US poultry, rose by 11 per cent year over year to 128,274 metric tons, while exports to Russia increased 91 per cent to 52,968 tons. Exports to Cuba climbed four-fold to 45,072 tons, while shipments to Taiwan rose by 9 per cent to 40,962 tons.

Exports to other important markets in the first quarter were Hong Kong, 37,226 tons, down 34 per cent; Canada, 35,965 tons, up 11 per cent; Iraq (including transshipments via Turkey) 35,875 tons, up 7 per cent; Angola, 26,557 tons, down 8 per cent; South Korea, 22,141 tons, down 20 per cent; Kazakhstan, 21,443 tons, up nine-fold year on year.

Exports of US chicken paws in March reached were 35,472 tons valued at $48.3 million, up 43 and 33 per cent from March 2011, respectively. While shipments to Hong Kong rose by 36.2 per cent to 31,419 tons, exports to mainland China increased by 169.4 per cent to 3,793 tons.

Figure 1. US broiler (including paws) exports in the first quarter since 1990. [Source: USDA/FAS GATS database]

First-quarter exports of chicken paws reached 101,544 tons at $134.5 million, up 29 and 14 per cent year on year, respectively. Export value set a year-on-year record, while export quantity was slightly lower than the record set in 2008.

Not to be left out, US turkey meat exports rose by 9 per cent in March to 29,111 tons over March 2011, while value jumped by 24 per cent to $57.8 million. Both export quantity and value set records for the month.

Cumulative first-quarter 2012 turkey exports also set records for quantity and value, reaching 82,053 tons valued at $160.5 million, respective increases of 13 and 28 per cent from the same period a year earlier. (Figure 2). Exports to top market Mexico climbed to 46,947 tons at $98.8 million, up 13 and 25 per cent year on year, respectively.

Figure 2. US turkey exports in the first quarter since 1990. [Source: USDA/FAS GATS database.]

Moreover, the top five markets accounted for 79 per cent of US turkey meat exports for the first quarter, with Mexico alone taking 57 per cent.

For table eggs, export quantity for March 2012 was 7.7 million dozen, down 5 per cent from March 2011, while export value was $7 million, up 0.6 per cent. The dip is largely attributable to decreased exports to the UAE.

Quarterly exports of table eggs jumped to nearly 21 million dozen valued at $19.4 million, up 31 and 42 per cent year on year, respectively. Of the total, 82 per cent, or just over 17 million dozen were shipped to the top five export markets of Hong Kong, Canada, UAE, Bahamas, and Netherlands Antilles.

For egg products, March exports were $113.238 million, up 28 per cent from March 2011. While export value to Japan decreased 40 per cent, exports to the EU-27, Canada, and Mexico all increased significantly. Cumulative export value of egg products in the first quarter of 2012 was nearly $32 million, up 22 per cent year on year.

Exports to Japan, the top export market for US egg products, decreased 8 per cent to $11.8 million, accounting for 37 per cent of US egg products exports.

Total egg exports (table eggs plus egg products in shell-egg equivalents) for the first quarter of this year were 53.7 million dozen, up 2 per cent from the same period of last year, while export value was $51.3 million, up 29 per cent year over year (Figure 3).

Figure 3. US exports of table eggs and egg products (in shell egg equivalent) in the first quarter since 1990. [Source: USDA/FAS GATS database.]