Although lacking access to many South American markets, demand for U.S. beef is booming in countries along the continent’s Pacific coast. U.S. beef imports to Peru have increased in value from $1.25 million in 2006 to $32.8 million in 2013 with particular demand for hearts, tripe and liver. Chile has been importing U.S. beef since the end of the last decade, but imports surged in 2011 reaching a value of $22.6 million, up from $6.2 million in 2010 after the country lifted its 30-month age restriction on U.S. cattle for beef imports. That same year Chile closed its market to Paraguay, its largest beef supplier because of an outbreak in foot and mouth disease in that country, giving U.S. exporters access to a greater market share. In 2012 the value of U.S. beef exports equaled $59.1 million and by 2013, $68.6 million – achieving a ten-fold increase in value. U.S. beef exports to Colombia tripled in 2013 to reach a value of $9.1 million, and in March of this year Ecuador reopened its market with no restrictions to U.S. beef for the first time since 2003. Although Ecuador’s regulations can be difficult to navigate, there is high interest in U.S. beef and great potential because of the country’s tourism industry in the Galapagos Islands and along its coastline.
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