US beef importers await impact as New York, Dominican Rep., Colombia impose bird flu-related import curbs

The US state of New York, and Colombia and the Dominican Republic, have become the first political entities to impose restrictions on imports of dairy cattle from the US states with confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, more commonly known as "bird flu."

However, market sources said it was too early to tell in which direction domestic and imported beef prices will trend on those restrictions.

"If we start getting export limitations, it depends on what we're sending" to those destinations, a US beef importer said. "If we're exporting round cuts, that will just add more round cuts to our supply here, which are already at a value to put into ground beef."

Instead, if the countries are importing offal, by-products and omasums (or cows' stomachs) then the US could be stuck with products it typically does not use.

"I'm waiting to see what the big step is: If Asia or Europe shuts down fed beef, then we'll see some impacts," the importer said.

Imported 90CL beef was heard to have traded at $2.80/lb on a FOB port-of-entry basis on April 24. That would suggest a CIF US value of $2.70/lb, or 10 cents/lb less than where Platts last assessed 90CL Beef CIF US.

The importer said offers from countries that send beef to the US have trended lower recently: "This week I got an offering from overseas that was lower than prior week. We're seeing it tip over," he said.

To date, eight US states have featured HPAI cases in dairy cattle: Texas, Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina and most recently South Dakota(opens in a new tab).

Earlier this week, Colombia prohibited the import of fresh and frozen beef and beef products derived from cattle slaughtered within those eight states, according to updated guidance from the US Department of Agriculture.

"It's a partial suspension of US beef from a specific group of slaughter plants," US Meat Export Federation spokesperson Joe Schuele said of Colombia. Colombia is understood to have okayed beef from cattle slaughtered prior to April 16, while cattle slaughtered after that date would be prohibited.

"The Dominican Republic has not published anything official to the export library but there have been for a few days now some shipments of US beef from those states that have been delayed or detained or struggled to gain clearance," Schuele added.

The Dominican Republic imported 8,250 mt of US beef valued at $94.59 million in 2022, the latest figures available from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Colombia imported 6,975 mt of beef valued at $43.55 million in the same period.

The Dominican Republic ranks 12th in terms of volume of US beef received, with Colombia at 14th. In dollar amounts, the Dominican Republic is the US' 11th largest trade partner for beef while Colombia is 17th.

In the US, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets said April 22 it had put in place "new temporary import requirements for dairy cattle coming into New York" since the outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza across 26 dairy herds in eight states. New York has so far not featured in the states with positive instances of HPAI.

The requirements prohibit importing cattle from an operation with confirmed cases or under-investigation cases of HPAI. Furthermore, dairy cattle imported from states with HPAI "must be accompanied by a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection issued within 10 days prior to entry into the state," the department said.

The agriculture department did not return multiple requests for comment.

New York does not feature any of the 10 largest slaughterhouses in the US. However, it does have a large dairy cow herd.