Source: MEATINGPLACE, 10/19/16

Shipments of U.S. pork to China doubled during the first eight months of the year, as a percentage of total U.S. exports, with elevated domestic prices driving Chinese demand, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said in a new report.

From January to August, U.S. pork shipments to China grew to account for 12 percent of total U.S. pork exports, compared with just 6 percent during the same period in 2015.

China, which was already the world’s largest pork producer and consumer, is now the world’s leading pork importer as well, and is forecast to generate more than a quarter of the global pork trade in 2017.

The majority of trade gains have been captured by the European Union, which retains 70 percent market share in China. Ample supplies, low prices and an advantageous exchange rate have enabled the EU to expand shipments, FAS said.

U.S. exports account for 17 percent of China’s total annual pork imports. The recent rise in Chinese hog and pork prices will stimulate herd recovery and production expansion in 2017, FAS predicted.

The resulting slight increase in domestic supplies will marginally depress import demand, and both the EU and United States are expected to see slightly lower shipments to China in 2017. Those declines will be offset by increased shipments to other key markets, such as Japan, Korea and the Philippines for both EU and U.S. exporters and Mexico for the United States, according to the report.

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