040222 Beef Exports to Dive In 2004February 22, 2004U.S. beef exports will plunge more than 90% this year and domestic prices will fall after the nation’s first case of mad cow disease led to a halt in shipments overseas, leaving ample supplies, the government said. Exports will drop to 220 million pounds from a record 2.5 billion last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report at its annual outlook conference in Arlington, Virginia. Imports will rise to 3.3 billion pounds from 3 billion, the department said. “Exports were a critical component to the industry but (they’re) gone today,” said John Stewart, president of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a closely held meatpacker in Northfield, Illinois, during a presentation at the conference. “It will take time to get it back.” Ample domestic supplies will reduce the price of cattle purchased by slaughterhouses, the government said. The price of cattle, which averaged 84.7 cents a pound last year, will drop to the mid-70 cents this year, the department said. U.S. beef exports, valued last year at $3.8 billion, have plunged since Dec. 23 when the government disclosed that a single case of mad cow disease had been found in Washington state. More than 40 countries, including Japan, Mexico and South Korea — the three largest buyers of U.S. beef — have banned imports of the meat. The U.S. will import a record 3.3 billion pounds of beef in 2004, the USDA predicted, up 10% from 2003 and up 3% over 2002. Scientists believe humans who eat certain parts of infected animals may contract a brain-wasting ailment. Source: Bloomberg News
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