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China bulks pork reserve to boost prices
Story Date: 4/23/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 4/20/12
China is buying up frozen pork to bolster prices to offset producers’ profit margins amid falling live-hog prices, according to a report by Reuters.
Analysts expressed concern that the move could hamper U.S. pork exports to China.
"If they're buying domestic, it would not seem to bode well for our exports," Elaine Johnson, an analyst with CattleHedging.com, was quoted as saying.
Beijing pulled the trigger when average farm-gate prices fell to 14.60 juan ($2.30) per kilogram last week, below the 6-to-1 ratio of pork-to-grain prices the government tries to maintain.
China has reserves of pork in live animals and frozen meat.
China has become a key market for the U.S. pork industry: Mainland China imported 667.7 millon pounds of U.S. pork in 2011, a jump over the 155.9 million pounds it bought in 2010, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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