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FAS and the Economic Research Service jointly publish the quarterly Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade. The agricultural export forecast is updated February, May, August, and November.

Chile remains the largest South American consumer-oriented market for U.S. exporters. Increasing wealth, lower barriers to entry, and the modern Chilean economy present opportunities for increased agricultural trade as COVID-19 restrictions and social-political tensions ease. This economic recovery has also attracted increased competition, especially from the European Union, Brazil, and Argentina; but premium U.S. products including beer, distilled spirits, pork and pork products, cheese, and specialty beef cuts hold potential for Chilean growth in the retail sector as well as the hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector.

The 2021 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world.

Post estimates cattle numbers in 2022 are expected to stagnate with 18 million head, including buffaloes, due to slow population growth rate, low raw milk prices, and an increasing number of cows being sent to slaughter because of high feed prices, despite government incentives.

As the 14th largest export destination, the United Kingdom (UK) has been an important and growing market for U.S. agricultural products. Shared heritage and cultural ties have continued to bolster U.S.-UK trade. The United States is the second largest UK agricultural supplier, behind the European Union (EU). The market presents many opportunities for intermediate and consumer-oriented products.

Hong Kong continues to take random tests on imports of chilled and frozen foods and their packaging for the COVID-19 virus.

Both EU beef and pork production are forecast to decline in 2022. The lower domestic beef production is caused by a shrinking dairy herd with higher milk deliveries but a lower output of animals for slaughter.

U.S. beef exports into the EU’s High Quality Beef (HQB) quota had a hard time in 2021 as they suffered from the repeated closures of the EU hospitality sector from COVID-19. EU imports of U.S. beef decreased substantially after the end-of-year 2020 holiday season and only gradually increased throughout 2021 again

Portuguese cattle and swine sectors are currently restructuring to increase their domestic beef and pork production to meet domestic and export market demands. The meat sector is also working to open new strategic export markets, especially in the pork market.

FY2021 agricultural exports reach record levels.

The United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on December 31, 2020, and the Covid pandemic have both presented challenges and opportunities for the livestock sector.

In 2020, Spanish livestock exports continued to reach record levels mainly driven by significant demand in the Middle East for cattle and in Asian markets for pork.