China’s pork imports rose 24 per cent in April, customs data shows

China imported 136,517 tonnes of pork in April, an increase of 24 per cent from the same month a year earlier, customs data showed on Thursday, as the world’s top consumer of the meat stocked up on supplies amid concerns of a looming shortage.

The total was the largest since September 2016, when pork imports topped 140,000 tonnes.

The figures from the General Administration of Customs covered only “muscle cuts”, or pork meat, and not feet, heads and other offal that China also imports in large volumes.

The country imported 470,776 tonnes of pork in the first four months of 2019, an increase of 8.4 per cent year on year, the data showed.

The surge follows the spread of the African swine fever virus to every province on the Chinese mainland since August last year, reducing the national herd by up to 200 million animals, according to one estimate.

With domestic pork production expected to be down by at least 30 per cent this year, importers have been buying up supplies from abroad to make up for it.

Canadian pork exports to China soar thanks to swine flu

Some food processors are also stepping up imports to guarantee their packaged and frozen products do not contain the African swine fever virus, as the government increases checks on processors and restaurants.

Importers have even sourced meat from the United States, despite steep duties on the meat because of the trade war. Some of those orders, however, have since been cancelled.

Big exporters say they are seeing a significant increase in Chinese demand for meat, not only cheaper items like offal.

“It’s not only offal like other years, also meat,” said Emmanuel Dartois, managing director of China for Cooperl, France’s top pork producer.

The company expected to sell about 50,000 tonnes of pork to China this year, up about 20 per cent from 2018, as some Chinese plants struggled to source enough hogs, he said.

Major British pork producer Cranswick said on Monday that comparable annual export volumes to its core eastern markets jumped 16 per cent, as it benefited from higher prices after the spread of African swine fever.

The impact of the disease on China and surrounding countries could last more than three years, the company said.

“It’s not at all the same situation as last year. The power is going to move to the producer who can provide fresh pork,” Dartois said.