Brazilian pork exports to China grow 173% YoY in first two months of 2020

In the first two months of 2020, Brazilian pork exports to China reached 4,523 TEUs, an increase of 173% over the first two months of 2019, when the volume sent by Brazil to the Asian country had been 1,656 TEUs.

Chart source: DataLiner

The main factor responsible for this increase in exports is the African swine flu, which hit China hard in 2019, reducing the pig herd in the country by up to 60% and raising the price of the protein (a Chinese favorite), to record highs. As a result, on April 20 the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture announced that pork imports this year are expected to grow 32.7% year-on-year to 2.8 million tons.

China has been experiencing African swine flu since August 2018 and the disease has not yet been contained. The cases of African swine flu reported by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs had dropped to two a month at the end of last year, but 13 have been published on the ministry’s website since March this year.

In an interview with Globo Rural magazine, the executive president of the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), Francisco Turra, said that even with the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, the trend for Brazilian pork exports to China in 2020 is promising. “African swine fever has not been contained. On the contrary, it reached other regions in Asia. In addition, there are new cases of avian influenza in India and China itself. In Europe, there was a drop in pork production this year and an increase in consumption, so the continent should also be a little more demanding,” said Turra. According to him, the coronavirus makes it difficult to resume production in these countries after these health problems, thus making room for Brazilian exports.

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