Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 2/8/18


Increased pork supplies are forecast for several exporting countries in the coming year just as China ramps up domestic production, creating a risk of oversupplied global markets, two reports suggest.

Pork producers in the United States, European Union, Canada and Brazil are expected to continue their fight to export pork to China in 2018, according to a new report from Rabobank. U.S. pork production in particular is expected to grow by 4.3 percent this year, and strong exports at the beginning of 2018 have “intensified the competition for market hogs to the detriment of packer returns,” Rabobank said in its Pork Quarterly report. Slowing imports into China are the “most significant story” in global pork markets, the bank said, but imports should pick up somewhat over the rest of the year.

China is preparing to build several hundred large-scale hog farms that would modernize and accelerate its homegrown pork production, according to a report from Reuters. The production overhaul comes as hundreds of thousands of backyard pork farms are closing, making room for mega-farms that would bring increased productivity. However, challenges including higher feed costs, new environmental laws and an insufficient number of adequately trained workers may allow imports to China from other countries to continue at current levels for at least this year, according to the report.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.