U.S. pork, beef export volumes pick up in July

During the month, Japan and South Korea continued to be top performers for beef exports from the United States, driven by strong demand for chilled beef.    The United States experienced year-over-year increases in pork and beef export volumes in July, 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.
   The U.S. exported 180,547 metric tons of pork valued at $491.9 million in July, year-over-year increases of 8.4 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
   Mexico was the leading volumes market for pork exports during the month at 54,805 metric tons, while Japan was the leading value market at $129.9 million.
   Meanwhile, beef export volumes rose 8 percent year-over-year to 99,341 metric tons. However, beef export value fell 5.2 percent from July 2015 to $526.7 million.
   During the month, Japan and South Korea continued to be top performers for U.S. beef, driven by strong demand for chilled beef. Chilled U.S. beef is also in high demand in Taiwan.
   Japan was the leading market for beef exports in terms of volumes and value in July, with beef exports to the nation totaling 23,042 metric tons valued at $129 million.
   Meanwhile, the U.S. exported 682 metric tons of lamb in July, slipping 9.3 percent from the same period last year. Lamb export value ticked up 2.7 percent year-over-year to $1.5 million.
   Mexico was the leading market for lamb exports in terms of volume and value, with 503 metric tons of lamb valued at $520,000 being exported to the nation in July.
   In regards to lamb exports, the USMEF said, “July was a strong month for exports to Hong Kong and the Philippines, while Bermuda continued to trend sharply higher than a year ago,” the USMEF said.