China’s pork imports surged 158 per cent in January, February

China is facing a severe shortage of pork after African swine fever devastated its hog herd, reducing its sow inventory by as much as 60 per cent in 2019

China imported 560,000 tonnes as the world’s top consumer brought in large supplies ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in January

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Pork output fell 21 per cent last year to a 16-year low, official data showed, and hogs last week cost six times those in the United States at about 37 yuan (US$5.21) per kilogram. Photo: /Bloomberg

Published: 10:03am, 24 Mar 2020Updated: 11:20pm, 24 Mar 2020

China’s pork imports in the first two months of 2020 surged 158 per cent from a year earlier to 560,000 tonnes, customs data showed on Tuesday, as the world’s top consumer brought in large supplies ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in January.

The jump came even after the clearing of frozen goods at ports slowed sharply in February because of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 3,000 people in China and kept millions more at home in quarantine.

China is facing a severe shortage of pork after the fatal pig disease African swine fever devastated its hog herd, reducing its sow inventory by as much as 60 per cent in 2019, according to some estimates.

Pork output fell 21 per cent last year to a 16-year low, official data showed, and hogs last week cost six times those in the United States at about 37 yuan (US$5.21) per kilogram.

Strong imports in the first two months of 2020 followed a monthly record of 270,000 tonnes in December.

The surge exacerbated a shortage of space to plug in refrigerated containers at ports when staff failed to return from work to unload cargoes because of quarantine measures.