China pork imports hit all-time high over supply concerns as US soybean imports surge 320 per cent

China’s pork imports jumped to an all-time high in March on supply concerns following a resurgence of African swine fever in the world’s biggest consumer and producer

China’s imports of soybean from Brazil plunged to the lowest level since January 2017 in March, but US bean imports hit the highest monthly total since December 2016 last month

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Tuesday’s data provided the first breakdown of imports by origin since China published data earlier this month showing overall imports of soybeans last month climbed 82 per cent to 7.77 million tonnes. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:18pm, 20 Apr 2021Updated: 3:05pm, 20 Apr 2021

China’s pork imports jumped to an all-time high in March on supply concerns following a resurgence of African swine fever in the world’s biggest consumer and producer.

Inbound shipments increased 16 per cent from a year earlier to 460,000 tonnes, boosting overall meat imports to a record as well, according to customs data on Sunday. Purchases in the first quarter advanced 22 per cent to 1.16 million tonnes, data showed.

Hog herds could have contracted by as much as 30 per cent from November, said Pan Chenjun, senior livestock analyst with Rabobank, as winter diseases, including new strains of African swine fever,hit the country’s farms. Hog inventories may currently be 60 per cent to 70 per cent of normal, Pan estimated.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s hog inventory totaled 415.95 million by the end of March, about 30 per cent more than a year earlier. That compares with 411 million hogs at the end of the first quarter of 2017, indicating that numbers have recovered to levels before the outbreak of the deadly swine disease in 2018, bureau data showed.

Imports, driven partly by state purchases, will remain strong in May as traders anticipate a rebound in domestic pork prices, which have been falling recently partly as a result of a selloff by hog farms, said Lin Guofa, senior analyst with Bric Agriculture Group.

China’s March soybean imports from Brazil, meanwhile, plunged as rain delayed some shipments from the world’s top exporter, but US bean imports rocketed more than fourfold as delayed cargoes arrived, hitting the highest monthly total since December 2016.