A growing appetite for U.S. beef pushed beef export sales to record highs in 2017, and that momentum continues into 2018.

The United States remained the largest exporter of beef in the world on a value basis, selling a record $7.27 billion in beef products in 2017, a 15 percent increase over 2016, according to Erin Borror, economist for the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

“What drove that growth in exports was the growth in chilled beef, and that’s super exciting for several reasons,” Borror...