China’s pork imports have increased from 100 KMT in May of 2018 to nearly 350 KMT in November of 2019. That means that China’s increased need for pork in 2019 required the absorption of one-third of the world’s surplus product. Notably, the EU was the main supplier of the increased pork imports.  Sixty percent of the surplus pork stocks are held by Japan and South Korea, likely for food security purposes. Due to retaliatory duties, the U.S. was not fully competitive, and the EU was constrained by limited supplies following supply reductions in 2018. In fact, EU pork ending stocks are classified at zero and with production flatlined at best, domestic consumption sacrificed shares to China’s import needs. Chinese...

TAGS – Livestock, Asia, China, Europe, North America