Beef import/export ?

[flywise]

So another thread got me curious so I googled. It appears we export pretty much the same amount of beef as we import. A significant amount of this trade is with the same countries. Is it all just a shell game or what?
We send out 1.90 billion lbs and import 1.8 so far in 2021.

[jaime1982]

Follow the $.

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[tvc184]

So another thread got me curious so I googled. It appears we export pretty much the same amount of beef as we import. A significant amount of this trade is with the same countries. Is it all just a shell game or what?
We send out 1.90 billion lbs and import 1.8 so far in 2021.

I am assuming is the free market system so it’s obvious you should follow the money.

Merely speculating since I know nothing about the industry except that I like beef…

The raw numbers of import versus export might be meaningless unless you know what kind of deals are being made. That might include processed beef vs that on the hoof, what breed, what production cost such as shipping, quality of the beef/cattle l itself, etc.

I don’t think it’s a matter of, you send me 1000 pounds of 80/20 ground beef and I will send you 1000 pounds of 80/20 ground beef, so we are even. I see a lot of Internet forums threads where Americans are importing a lot of wagyu beef from Japan, Australia and maybe other countries. Being that the USA has a higher end economy, are we importing 10 tons of wagyu where border states like Texas are sending 10 tons of average cuts of beef to Mexico? On paper it is 10 tons versus 10 tons but is it really the same?

Maybe it’s not even quality or breed. I think the beef market is probably a day to day industry. It’s not like oil where you might store it for a good while and sell it at the right time. I don’t know how long do you want to hang on to a head of cattle that is in prime condition to sell. If a rancher is looking to sell it might matter who will pay how much for that beef either on the hook or processed that day.

Beef is probably sold every day of the year, and considering the quality, different cuts if processed, supply and demand between countries which may be very different at any given moment, shipping costs, etc., there are probably hundreds of different variables. I think that ranchers and processors are just making the best deal they can at that moment in time and what goes back-and-forth between countries are probably not exactly the same

I am just guessing that conditions at the moment what particular beef is being traded matters in the free market. Just looking at imports versus exports, 100 pounds of 80/20 ground beef is equal to 100 pounds of wagyu ribeyes. Both are just 100 pounds of beef but they are not even close in comparison of the product.

(Now someone in the cattle industry will come in and say it’s all just a shell game.)

[ctom87]

First thing that came to mind is as stated above, we import based on our refined taste...Japanese beef comes to mind first. As far as expect, I would imagine ground beef is getting sent to other countries.

Of course I know nothing about this, just speculating.

[flywise]

I am assuming is the free market system so it’s obvious you should follow the money.

Merely speculating since I know nothing about the industry except that I like beef…

The raw numbers of import versus export might be meaningless unless you know what kind of deals are being made. That might include processed beef vs that on the hoof, what breed, what production cost such as shipping, quality of the beef/cattle l itself, etc.

I don’t think it’s a matter of, you send me 1000 pounds of 80/20 ground beef and I will send you 1000 pounds of 80/20 ground beef, so we are even. I see a lot of Internet forums threads where Americans are importing a lot of wagyu beef from Japan, Australia and maybe other countries. Being that the USA has a higher end economy, are we importing 10 tons of wagyu where border states like Texas are sending 10 tons of average cuts of beef to Mexico? On paper it is 10 tons versus 10 tons but is it really the same?

Maybe it’s not even quality or breed. I think the beef market is probably a day to day industry. It’s not like oil where you might store it for a good while and sell it at the right time. I don’t know how long do you want to hang on to a head of cattle that is in prime condition to sell. If a rancher is looking to sell it might matter who will pay how much for that beef either on the hook or processed that day.

Beef is probably sold every day of the year, and considering the quality, different cuts if processed, supply and demand between countries which may be very different at any given moment, shipping costs, etc., there are probably hundreds of different variables. I think that ranchers and processors are just making the best deal they can at that moment in time and what goes back-and-forth between countries are probably not exactly the same

I am just guessing that conditions at the moment what particular beef is being traded matters in the free market. Just looking at imports versus exports, 100 pounds of 80/20 ground beef is equal to 100 pounds of wagyu ribeyes. Both are just 100 pounds of beef but they are not even close in comparison of the product.

(Now someone in the cattle industry will come in and say it’s all just a shell game.)

Sounds like a plausible explanation. I didn’t think about quality being traded.