USMEF Reports Strong Export Momentum for Beef and Pork in October 2025
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is highlighting strong export performance for U.S. beef and pork in October 2025, pointing to continued global demand and encouraging momentum across several key international markets. USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said October was one of the most optimistic months of the year in terms of export volume and market performance.
“So October continues with some real good momentum running very close to the record of 2024. In fact that month was a record for Mexico and also Central America, a big month as well, led by record-breaking months for both Honduras and Guatemala,” Halstrom said.
Strong results were not limited to those regions. “So combine that with some other mainstay markets like Japan and Korea and actually Philippines as well, all having a big month. So I think we’re quite happy with 265,000 metric tons exported in the month of October,” he added.
While pork exports remain slightly behind year-to-date levels, Halstrom said the issue is largely tied to China. “But while we’re down slightly a year to date for pork, almost all of that is related to reduced volumes into China around pork variety meats, all the more reason to get our tariffs squared away to where we should be on the pork side in China.”
Central America continues to stand out as a bright spot, especially for beef. “Traditionally we’ve had a lot of success in Central America on pork, but we are actually at a value record, already set a value record for beef into Central America, which is really, really good news,” Halstrom said. “Wasn’t that many years ago that Central America was strictly a price buyer, now they’re realizing the value in U.S. beef and they’re willing to pay for the quality.”
Other markets also posted notable gains. “Big month in October for Japan, up over 15%. We have other markets such as Taiwan up 40%. Caribbean, Colombia, good performances as well. It’s probably the most optimistic month we’ve had volume-wise.”
Even with China factored out, the numbers remain encouraging. “While it’s down, it’s still the best month since June. If you also look at for the month of October, if you exclude China from the numbers, we’re actually up 5% in volume. If you look at the year-to-date numbers and take China out, we’re only down slightly, a couple percent in volume and value.”
Overall, October 2025 reflects strong global demand for U.S. beef and pork and reinforces the importance of diversified export markets for the U.S. meat industry.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.