In April, U.S. pork exports eclipsed the previous one-month record by nearly 12 percent to reach 175,640 metric tons (387.2 million pounds) of pork and pork variety meat valued at $391.5 million, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. The previous record of 156,959 metric tons (346 million pounds) was set in February. Total pork exports for 2008 (up to April) are up 52 percent over the prior year, equaling 629,682 metric tons (1.38 billion pounds) valued at $1.4 billion. For the first four months of 2008, exports accounted for 22 percent of total U.S. pork and pork variety meat production, versus 16.5 percent last year. Meanwhile, U.S. exports of beef and beef variety meat jumped 31 percent in volume and nearly 39 percent in value in April 2008 over April 2007. That mirrors gains in the first four months of 2008, which registered a 29.5 percent jump in volume (463.2 million pounds a year ago to 600.1 million pounds in 2008) and 39.9 percent in value ($944,538 in the first four months of 2008 versus $675,140 a year ago).
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