U.S. red meat exports posted solid results in July, with volumes for both U.S. beef and pork trending higher than a year ago, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) last week. Beef export value was down from last July, but pork export value increased significantly, the report said.

July beef export volume in­­creased 8 percent from a year ago to 99,341 metric tons — the second-largest monthly total this year — while export value was $526.7 million, down 5 percent.

For January through July, ex­­port volume was up 4 percent to 640,888 metric tons, while value fell 10 percent to $3.44 billion, the USMEF said in the...