For the second consecutive month, quantity and value of poultry meat exports set year-on-year records.

Poultry exports for May reached 336,387 tons valued at $460 million, up 5 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, from the May 2011. Export value for the month was the highest ever.

May exports of broiler meat (excluding chicken paws) totaled 271,883 tons, up 6 per cent from May 2011. Export value reached $353.8 million, up 17 per cent year over year.

For January through May, cumulative exports of broiler meat (excluding paws) rose by 13 per cent to 1.33 million tons, while value reached $1.68 billion, up 28 per cent from the same period in 2011, both setting year-on-year records.

Broiler meat shipments to Mexico for the period grew by 18 per cent over last year to 217,062 tons, while exports to Russia increased by 138 per cent to 111,333 tons. Exports to Cuba hit 64,367 tons, up 267 per cent year on year, while shipments to Canada were 63,712 tons, up 19 per cent.

Exports to other important markets included Angola, 62,445 tons, up 30 per cent; Taiwan, 60,581 tons, up 17 per cent; Hong Kong, 59,279 tons, down 34 per cent; Iraq, 53,558 tons, down 11 per cent; Kazakhstan, 43,504 tons, up almost eight-fold year on year; and China, 34,108 tons, up 64 per cent.

Exports of US chicken paws in May were 32,319 tons valued at $44.2 million, up 9 and 2 per cent compared to May 2011. Cumulative paw exports for the first five months reached 163,518 tons, up 20 per cent year on year. Export value set a year-year-year record at $219.8 million, up 9 per cent.

Of total paw shipments, 81 per cent were shipped to Hong Kong, and 17 per cent were shipped to mainland China.

Total January-May broiler exports (including paws) this year set year-on-year records in both volume and value, with an export quantity of 1.5 million tons valued at $1.9 billion, up 14 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.

Of the total, 43 per cent was shipped to the top five markets – Mexico, Hong Kong, Russia, Cuba, and Canada.

May exports of US turkey meat declined to 27,989 tons, down 5 per cent from the same month in 2011. Even so, export value set a record for the month of May at $52.3 million, up 4 per cent from May 2011.

Cumulative January-May turkey exports reached 139,183 tons, up 11 per cent, with a value of $267.6 million, an increase of 23 per cent from the same period in 2011. Both quantity and export value set year-on-year records.

Exports to Mexico, the top market for US turkey, were 75,956 tons valued at $156.7 million, up 6 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. Shipments to China, the second most important market for US turkey, dropped by 20 per cent to 14,931 tons, while export value reached $24.4 million, up 21 per cent.

Five markets accounted for 79 per cent of total US turkey meat exports – Mexico, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Canada, with Mexico alone accounting for 55 per cent.

For table eggs, export quantity for May 2012 was 10.2 million dozen valued at $8.6 million, up 21.7 and 5.6 per cent, respectively, thanks largely to increased shipments to Hong Kong and the U.A.E.

January-May table egg exports reached 39.7 million dozen valued at $35.6 million, up 28 per cent and 26 per cent year on year, respectively. The top five markets of Hong Kong, Canada, the U.A.E., the Bahamas, and Netherlands Antilles accounted for 81 per cent of total exports.

For processed egg products, May exports were $12.6 million, up 4 per cent from May 2011. While export value to Japan, which is normally the top market for US processed eggs, decreased by 43 per cent to $3.9 million, exports to the European Union increased by 116 per cent to $4.6 million, largely a factor of the shortage of breaking stock in the EU.

The cumulative value of egg products exports for January through May were $59.1 million, up 19 per cent. Exports to the EU increased by141 per cent to $23 million, accounting for 39 per cent of US total exports, while shipments to Japan decreased by 27 per cent to $18.1 million, accounting for 31 per cent of the total.

Total egg exports (table eggs plus egg products in shell egg equivalents) for the first five months of this year were 99.3 million dozen, up 6 per cent from the same period of last year, while export value hit $94.7 million, up 22 per cent year over year. Both export quantity and export value set year-on-year records.