US pork exports climb in 2024 – USMEF

Exports of US pork eclipsed previous highs in both volume and value in 2024, according to year-end data released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

December pork exports totalled 267,132 metric tons (mt), slightly below last year’s large volume, while value increased 1% to $771.8 million. These results pushed the full-year volume to 3.03 million mt, up 4% from a year ago and topping the previous high (2.98 million mt) reached in 2020. Export value totalled $8.63 billion, up 6% from the previous record set in 2023.

“Market diversification has been a key goal of the US pork industry for many years, and the resulting broad-based growth has never been more evident than in 2024,” said USMEF president and CEO Dan Halstrom.

“While exports to Mexico were record-large for the fourth consecutive year, US pork’s footprint expanded greatly in the Western Hemisphere and made gains in the Asia-Pacific, which bolstered global export totals and pushed export value per head slaughtered to a new high of more than $66,” Halstrom added.

In addition to Mexico, pork exports achieved annual volume and value records in Central America, Colombia, New Zealand, Malaysia and several Caribbean markets. Value records were reached in South Korea, Australia and the Dominican Republic.

Tags: USMEF, Central America, markets, Colombia, exports, pork, US, Malaysia, New Zealand