Pork producers got some good news during an industry forum hosted last week in San Antonio by the Clive-based National Pork Board.

For the fourth consecutive year, exports eclipsed $6 billion, with 4.8 billion pounds of pork and pork variety meats with a value of nearly $6.7 billion shipped to more than 100 countries. The amount of pork products exported was a 2 percent increase from 2013, while the dollar amount represented a 10 percent increase, according to a release.

The top five markets by weight of pork imported were Mexico at 1.5 billion pounds, Japan at 1 billion pounds, China and Hong Kong at nearly 744 million pounds, Canada at 457 million pounds and Korea at nearly 299 million pounds.

The top five markets in total dollar value imported were Japan at $1.9 billion, Mexico at $1.6 billion, Canada at $905 million, China and Hong Kong at $775 million and Korea at $445 million.

Consumer expenditures have grown nearly 15 percent since 2009. Pork expenditures – the product of total pork volume available in the United States multiplied by the average U.S. Department of Agriculture retail pork price – grew by 7.6 percent in 2014 from 2013.

Total U.S. pig inventory at the end of 2014 increased 2 percent from the previous year to 66 million head.