U.S. pork exports hold strong in May

Meanwhile, beef export volumes in May rose 12.4 percent year-over-year, while beef export value fell 4.2 percent year-over-year.    The United States experienced mixed results in May’s meat exports, with pork exports up in terms of volumes and value, beef exports up in terms of volumes but down in terms of value, and lamb exports down in terms of both volumes and value, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which was compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
   Pork exports refer to pork and pork variety meat; beef exports refer to beef and beef variety meat; and lamb exports refer to lamb, mutton and lamb variety meat.
   During the month of May, the U.S. exported 199,193 metric tons of pork valued at $501.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 7.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. “Both totals were the highest since April 2015,” USMEF said.
   In terms of value, Japan was the leading market for pork exports in May at $121.6 million, while in terms of volumes, China/Hong Kong was the leading market during the month at 58,007 metric tons.
   Pork export volumes to China/Hong Kong, which were the largest since 2011, rose 85.1 percent from May 2015, while value surged 87 percent since May 2015, USMEF said. “The U.S. industry, as well as the other major pork exporters, has certainly benefited from the shortfall in China’s domestic production,” USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng said. “However, falling hog prices in China suggest that demand for imported pork could begin to cool, so it was vitally important that exports to other key markets also gained momentum in May.”
   USMEF said, “Other markets in which U.S. pork posted strong performance in May included Australia, the Philippines and Honduras.”
   Meanwhile, U.S. beef exports totaled 99,451 metric tons in May, a 12.4 percent increase from May 2015. In terms of value, U.S. beef exports fell 4.2 percent since last May to $533.3 million.
   Japan was the leading market for beef exports in terms of volumes and value in May. During the month, the U.S. exported 23,158 metric tons of beef to Japan valued at $130.2 million.
   Lamb exports from the U.S. in May totaled 558 metric tons valued at $1.6 million, a year-over-year drop of 38.1 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.
   Mexico was the leading market for lamb exports in terms of volumes during the month at 402 metric tons, while the Netherlands was the leading market for lamb exports in terms of value at $434,000.