Record pork exports start off 2026; Commodities wait for China summit this week

We start with a USMEF report on pork and beef exports through the first quarter of 2026. After a pivot to look at commodity markets we wrap with a look ahead to what Wall Street is looking forward to this week. The China meeting this week will have an impact on all markets, ag and non-ag.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to Chat BDC. I'm back with a quick update on business news cross-tag and financial markets. Today's Monday, May 11th, 2026. Hope everybody had a great weekend. Happy Mother's Day to everybody yesterday. Today we've got your three stories queued up. We're gonna look at meat exports, commodity markets, and what to look forward to on Wall Street this week. So let's get to it. Starting off quick in livestock exports, March exports of U.S. pork were among the largest on record, including a very strong quarter, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. While March beef exports were below last year, largely due to the ongoing lockout by China, the value of beef variety meat shipments reached a new monthly high surpassing the previous record from January. Pork exports totaled 285,567 metric tons in March, up 6% from a year ago, largest in five years, and the third largest on record. Export value increased 4% to $803.2 million, the second highest on record, trailing only April 2021. March exports increased year over year to leading market Mexico, as well as to Japan, Central America, Dominican Republic, Philippines, and Taiwan, and were steady to South Korea and Canada. March was an outstanding month for export value per head slaughtered, which was the third highest on record at $72.93. Through the first quarter, pork exports are 3% above last year's pace in both volume and value. Exports are on a record pace to Mexico and Central America. Looking at beef, exports totaled 97,731 metric tons, down 11% from a year ago, while value fell 8% to $844.7 million. Shipments increased year over year to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean and Indonesia, and were studied to Korea and Taiwan. But these results were offset by minimal exports to China, and exports were also below last year to Japan and the Middle East. If you take away China, March exports were 4% above last year's volume and increased 8% in value. March was a very robust month for per head export value, which equated to $456.50.56 per head of Fed slaughter. Through the first quarter, beef and beef variety meat exports totaled $275,355 metric tons, down 11% from a year ago, while value fell 7% to $2.35 million. Excluding China from these results, exports were 3% higher than a year ago in volume and increased 9% in value. Switching to commodity markets, a report from Michelle Rook on AgWeb.com. For the week, July corn was 9 cents lower. December corn was down 5 3 quarters. July soybeans gained 4 3 quarters. November soybeans added 6 3 quarters. July soybean meal was 40 cents higher. July bean oil lost 84 points. July soft red winter wheat lost 18 and 3 quarters. July hard red winter wheat lost 18 and 3 quarters. And July hard red spring wheat fell 24. Soybeans ended sharply higher on Friday, posted higher weekly closes on optimism about the outcome of the meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping coming up this week in Beijing. Jerry Gulkey, president of the Gulkey Group, says the market is anticipating additional purchases of U.S. soybeans to be announced at the summit, in addition to other ag products. In late October, Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent said China had agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans for the current year, 25 million metric tons for the three years following. President Trump followed that up with a social media post on February 4th, indicating China would be buying an additional 8 million metric tons of old crop soybeans. Gulkey says Friday's rally in soybeans was impressive, and the technical action for the week was positive as the November contract closed above the March and April highs. Corn posted lower weekly closes in both the July and December contracts. Gulky says it may be tied to more acres of corn being planted than what USDA indicated in the March Prospective Plantings Report. Wrapping up in financial markets, the rallying U.S. stock market will take its cues this week from inflation and consumer spending data, developments in the war in Iran, and a high-stakes meeting between the leaders of U.S. and China, as we mentioned. U.S. equities have been on a tear, the benchmark S P 500 up more than 16% from its low for the year hit in late March. Strongest U.S. quarterly earnings season in more than four years has lifted sentiment for equities, while worries about worst-case economic fallout from the Iran war have abated and investors are jumping in for fear of missing out on gains. Hopes for an end to the Middle East conflict, which began in late February, remain at the forefront for Wall Street. In particular, investors are eager to see a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke point for global oil supplies. With that regard, energy prices have soared in the wake of the Iran war, with the U.S. crude up more than 60% for the year. The war is also expected to be a topic when Trump meets with Xi Jinping in Beijing late this week. Investors will monitor any developments between the two nations on access to rare earths and technology as well as other issues. That's all for now. As always, thanks for tuning in to JetB DC. If you found this useful, subscribe, share it, tell your friends. I'll be back tomorrow with more business moves across tag and financial markets. Until then, I'm Mike Offman, and goodbye.