US DATA: Pork exports rise to an all-time high in 2024

US pork exports reached record highs in 2024 and were expected to remain elevated for the 2025 marketing year.

Exports totaled 3.03 million mt in 2024, up 4% from the previous year. December 2024 pork exports totaled 267,132 mt, slightly below the December 2023 volume of 269,399 mt, while value increased 1% on the month to $771.8 million, according to year-end data released by the US Department of Agriculture and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

"Market diversification has been a key goal of the US pork industry for many years," USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said in a statement dated on Feb. 6. "While exports to Mexico were record-large for the fourth-consecutive year, US pork's footprint has expanded greatly in the Western hemisphere and made gains in Asia-Pacific."

Mexico held the largest share of US pork exports in 2024 as the volume totaled 1.15 million mt, up by 5% on the year, according to USMEF and USDA data.

According to the agency, US pork exports reached annual volume records in several countries that typically hold a smaller market share of US pork exports. The volume of pork exported to Central America was recorded at 166,086 mt; Colombia at 142,035 mt; and New Zealand and Australia at 102,747 mt.

The USDA projected annual pork production for 2025 at 28.53 million pounds in the February release of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Outlook report Feb. 11, up 20,000 lb from the January WASDE projection and 742,000 pounds higher than the February 2024 production estimate.

"Pork production is raised as higher weights throughout the year more than offset the slower rate of slaughter expected in the first quarter, in part due to the HPAI-related culling, offset by increased production in the third quarter," according to the February WASDE report.

The US pork market, like many other agriculture markets, would be closely monitoring developments both in US trade policy and avian flu outbreaks, each of which could highly impact commodity flows.