UNITED STATES-PORK EXPORTS.
U.S. pork exports in February declined nearly 10%from a year ago, but the total pork figure, which includes variety meats,gained slightly from 2008.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s February meat-export data, released
Thursday, showed pork-meat exports at 116,629 metric tons, compared with
129,183 tons a year ago. Through the first two months, pork-meat exports were
7% off the year-ago pace. The largest declines came from sales to China/Hong
Kong and Russia , while the biggest annual gains happened in shipments to Mexico
and Japan.
For total pork, international year-to-date sales were up 3% by volume and 6%
in value. Total pork sales for the first two months came in at $728.4 million.
Industry analysts and economists have predicted a sales drop to China/Hong
Kong because domestic pork production there has increased in recent months,
whilethe economic crisis has slowed demand.