(NewsDakota.com/NAFB) – Exports of pork and pork products surpassed $7.6 billion and 2.6 million metric tons last year.

Those exports added $61.26 to the value of each hog marketed and represented 27.5 percent of production, according to the Pork Checkoff. Pork exports finished 2022 on a decidedly upward trajectory as December shipments reached 244,718 metric tons, up 13 percent year-over-year and the second largest of 2022, slightly below November.

The year-end export data was a decrease compared to 2021, which was a record year, of 8.5 percent in volume and five percent in value. December exports also trended higher year-over-year to China/Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Australia, and set a value record in Central America.

The Mexican market is the shining star and leading volume and value destination for U.S. Pork in 2022, with a volume increase of ten percent at 959.7 metric tons and a value increase of 21 percent at $2,034 billion.