U.S. Pork Exports: January to September 2016 (11182016)

The level of U.S. pork muscle cut exported during the month of September 2016 reached a volume of 142,113 metric tons (MT), remaining about the same as last month but increasing 2.7% compared with the same month last year (see Figure 1 and Table 1).  September export value ($409.2 million) was up 3.8% year-over-year, but down 3.6% from August 2016 (see Table2).  Overall, 20.7% of U.S. pork production was exported during the first three quarter of 2016. U.S. pork muscle cut exports during this period reached a volume of 1,293,533 MT, increasing about 2.6% from the volume exported last year and in 2014 (see Figure 1). Despite this increase in volume, the value of those exports ($3.577 billion) slightly declined compared with last year ($3.597 billion), as average pork prices from January to September 2016 have been lower compared with last year. Also, exports to Japan, which is the largest higher value market for U.S. pork, have been down compared with last year.