Source: MEATINGPLACE, 11/7/16

U.S. pork exports to China may not repeat this year’s strong pace, but Mexican imports are likely to pick up the slack, executives with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) said in a media conference call from the USMEF Strategic Planning Conference in Carlsbad, Calif.

Exports of U.S. pork to China are up 100 percent year-over-year, but competition for the market is intense among the United States, Europe and Asia, said Joel Haggard, USMEF’s senior vice president for Asia Pacific.

“Asia remains a battlefield for the U.S. on the pork side,” Haggard said.

“Next year we may not see these incredible pork numbers, but they still will be high,” he said.

Meanwhile, pork exports to Mexico, the largest importer of U.S. pork, are on an upswing, noted Chad Russell, regional director for Mexico and Central America.

“Mexico imports of U.S. pork will be quite strong, because China will be taking less product,” Russell said.

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