China’s African swine fever outbreak drives 150 per cent jump in pork imports
- Imports of pork rose more than 150 per cent in November from a year earlier
- China, the world’s top consumer of the meat, is suffering a severe domestic supply shortage as African swine fever has decimated the local hog herd
China’s pork imports in November surged more than 150 per cent from a year ago to 229,707 tonnes, the highest since at least 2016, as the world’s top consumer of the meat faces a severe domestic supply shortage after disease decimated its hog herd.
The figures were also up 30 per cent from the previous month’s 177,426 tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday, as wholesalers stocked up on supplies ahead of China’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Pork imports for the first 11 months of the year stood at 1.733 million tonnes, up 58 per cent from a year earlier. The data is for muscle cuts and does not include offal and other non-muscle parts known as ‘variety meats’.
November’s pork imports were the highest since at least January 2016, according to the Thomson Reuters Eikon database.