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Impacts of COVID-19 felt in global markets

The coronavirus pandemic has had a serious impact on US markets, but University of Missouri livestock economist Scott Brown says COVID-19 is also wreaking havoc on markets around the world.  

A recent report from the USDA shows that global beef imports for this year were reduced by nearly 1 million metric tons from January to July.  “When you look at it – it’s some of the markets that matter to us,” he says.  “Japan, South Korea, Mexico – all showed a downward revision for 2020 imports in the July report relative to the January report.”

He tells Brownfield the report’s findings are troublesome as both US beef and pork need to see growth in exports to support prices.  “And when you have a number of these other countries that are also battling COVID-19 – it sometimes gets more difficult to export more product,” he says. 

The report did show an increase in US pork exports from January, but Brown says that wouldn’t have been possible without China’s increase in pork purchases.