Nation’s pork imports predicted to surpass 3m tons in 2019: ministry

China’s imports of pork and related products are predicted to surpass 3 million tons this year and the figure will continue to rise in 2020, an official at the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said Thursday, urging international pork trade companies to set reasonable prices.

The country’s imports of substitutes – including beef and poultry – will reach 2.7 million tons this year, Wang Bin, a deputy chief for market operations at MOFCOM, said at the 10th China International Meat Conference in Shanghai, domestic news site 21jingji.com reported.

China recently stepped up pork imports, as it has been fighting African swine fever since the virus was detected in August 2018.

Entering the winter season, market demand for meat gradually will rise, particularly as China’s traditional Spring Festival draws near, Wang said. Wang encouraged importers and suppliers to cooperate with Chinese purchasers.

“Now is the best time. You can sign more agreements on pork trade. Then you can occupy the Chinese market during the golden season of New Year’s Day and the Chinese Spring Festival as well as the first quarter of next year,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

He said international meat traders should have a long-term vision in setting reasonable export prices and establishing stable and sustainable trade relationships with Chinese purchasers.

“Do not hike pork export prices too high, which will make you lose the opportunity for seek long-term development in the Chinese market,” he said.

In the first three quarters of this year, domestic pork production dropped 17.2 percent year-onyear to 31.81 million tons, Wang said, noting that domestic consumption of pork dropped 20-30 percent due to soaring prices.

The continuous rise in prices is partly due to the reluctance of many large farming companies to sell pork right now, Ma Wenfeng, a senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy, told the Global Times on Thursday.

However, China’s hog supply is expected to start to increase in the second half of 2020, Wang said.

“Given that the price of pig feed saw continuous gains in recent months, pig breeding companies’ production must have been recovering,” Ma said.

Ma predicted pork prices will drop significantly before the second half of 2020, as pork supply will increase in January and February.