US Agricultural Exports to China Surge, including Dairy Products

choi

David Pierson, US Farm Exports Surge, Helped by Growing Demand in Developing World. Los Angeles Times, Feb 12, 2014
www.latimes.com/business/money/l ... eveloping-201402012,0,2268369.story

Quote:

(a) "Between 2000 and 2013, American fruit, grain, meat and dairy sold overseas nearly tripled to $140.9 billion, making agricultural products one of the hottest exports in the last decade, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Wednesday [Feb 11]. * * * 'Sales to developing countries were up about 250% between 2000 and 2013, and they now account for two-thirds of US agricultural exports,' the USDA said.

"China was the leading buyer of American agricultural products at $23.5 billion last year – just ahead of Canada’s $21.4 billion in purchases.

"The Asian nation has been scooping up American grains to feed livestock. Those imports could grow as China is now showing signs of relaxing its policy of grain self-sufficiency to devote its shrinking share of arable land to higher-value crops such as fruit and vegetables.

(b) Livestock were among the most valuable US exports across the globe last year at $18.9 billion. Other high-value exports included fruits and nuts ($31.4 billion), soybeans ($20.9 billion) and wheat ($10 billion).

Note:
(a) I can not find the USDA report in the Web.

(b)
(i) livestock (n)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/livestock
gives two examples: "a market where livestock are bought and sold" and
"a market where livestock is bought and sold"
--hinting the noun can be followed by a verb in singular or plural form. This is confirmed in the next dictionary.
(ii) livestock (n; "used with a singular or plural verb")
Random House Dictionary, 2013.
dictionary.reference.com/browse/livestock

(c) By definition, livestock is live--not "meat," that is.  

For example China has bought livestock from abroad to improve its breeding stock.

choi

Jacob Bunge and Tess Stynes, Rising Dairy Costs Lead to Dean Foods Loss; Demand in China drives up raw-milk prices; End of contract with Wal-Mart also hurt result. Wall Street Journal, Feb 12, 2014.
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303650204579376671715676550

Quote:

(a) "Dean reported a $37.7 million fourth-quarter loss, hurt by increased costs for raw milk that the company expects to rise further. It said costs for the commodity may still outpace increased production forecasts this year among US and European dairy farms, due to strong export demand for dairy products.

(b) "Dallas-based Dean said the price of raw milk has marched higher every month since August and has climbed 8% since December, driven by surging international demand for milk powder, cheese and other dairy products. Dean expects raw-milk costs to rise 17% in the first quarter compared with December's price, Mr [Dean Chief Executive Gregg] Tanner said.

"More of the world's milk is flowing to growing countries such as China, which boosted its total dairy imports by 42% last year as production there fell 5% to 15%. A 2008 scandal around milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine continues to hamper Chinese milk production, Mr Tanner said.

"US milk-powder exports, a key component in multiple dairy products, rose by nearly 25% over the first 11 months of 2013, Mr Tanner said, boosting costs for processors such as Dean.

(c) "For February, the base US price of milk used in beverage products jumped to $2.202 a pound, a new all-time high and up 21% from the same month last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

(d) "Per-capita US milk consumption has been falling for decades. * * * Dean said its US market share for milk totaled 35.7% in the fourth quarter, 0.8% higher than in the third quarter.  

My comment: Take notice of the key word "processor" in quotation (b). Dean Foods does not own cows.