As noted yesterday, China’s pork imports appear to have recently turned higher despite supposedly over-abundant and under-valued domestic supplies. In an article about the over-supply of pork in the U.S. market, the Wall Street Journal cited declining sales to China during the first 11 months of 2023. But that may be an oversimplification. U.S. pork exports to China for the complete marketing year were down, but by just 3.5 percent. And commitments were off by only 2.4 percent. Looking at more recent data, marketing year to date pork purchase commitments by China from the U.S. are up 10.3 percent year-on-year, and actual pork shipments are up 23 percent. But again, using only part of a marketing year’s data can be deceptive as...

TAGS – Livestock, China