Revenue from lamb exports increased 10 percent for the first half of 2017 (as compared to 2016) with total revenues reaching $9.6 million for exported American lamb according to an August report from the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
Overall, the amount of lamb exported to Mexico, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Central and South America, and Taiwan is actually down 13 percent from the same period last year. However, that number showed dramatic improvement in June as American producers exported 1.4 million pounds of lamb – a 40 percent improvement from June 2016. A dramatic upswing in exports to Central and South America, and the addition of Taiwan as a new market for American lamb have certainly played a role in the rise.
The United States exported more than 11,000 pounds of lamb to Taiwan in June 2017 alone – matching the exports for the first five months of the year combined in just one month. The Taiwan market has already surpassed Mexico – a longtime customer of American lamb – in volume of American lamb that enters the country.
The Caribbean is still the largest consumer of American lamb at more than 723,000 pounds in the first half of 2017, followed by the Middle East.
“The American Sheep Industry Association focused trade discussion with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service on opening the Taiwan market for lamb at the request of the Idaho Department of Agriculture, and we are pleased with the success of American lamb overseas,” said ASI Executive Director Peter Orwick. “The focus has shifted entirely now to reopening the Japan market, as well. ASI officials met with USDA in July regarding that market.”
Picture: Flickr
ASI
