Paced by strong performances from leading markets, both U.S. beef and pork exports continued their upward trend in July, with beef sales setting new highs for the year, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Double-digit increases to the top three markets (Japan, Mexico and Canada) helped U.S. beef exports jump 9 percent in volume in July to 118,913 metric tons valued at $622.8 million, a 21 percent increase over last year, according to the report released last week. For the year, beef exports are up a fraction in volume (661,473 metric tons) and 9 ...