China imports 13 percent more pork

In the first half of 2023, China imported 13 percent more pork than in the same period of 2022, amounting to 1.54 million tons, an increase of 180,000 tons. Spain retains the title of main supplier.

Spending on imports from China actually saw a 31 percent jump to 3.46 billion euros, thanks to increased world market prices. EU suppliers generally had higher prices than their competitors from North America and Brazil, resulting in a loss of market share for the Europeans.

Chinese importers' interest was mainly in fresh, chilled and frozen pork, according to an in-depth analysis of trade data by the Danish agricultural and food industry umbrella organization. Purchases of this product category rose nearly 17 percent to nearly 932,700 tons, an increase of 134,000 tons compared to the first half of 2022. Imports of pig by-products, on the other hand, rose 8 percent to 555,400 tons.

Although Spain remained the largest supplier, their total sales were only up 2.4 percent to 351,700 tons. Brazil was more successful in terms of growth, with an increase of about a third in their deliveries of fresh and frozen pork to China to 220,800 tons. In doing so, they also sold 10,500 tons of by-products, making them second only to Chinese imports.

With a 30 percent increase in total tonnage delivered to 228,900 tons, the United States followed. Canada saw an even bigger increase, rising more than half to 125,300 tons. However, by-product sales from Denmark fell by more than a fifth to 64,800 tons, while fresh pork sales rose 4.1 percent to 84,900 tons.

The Netherlands, as an EU country, managed to increase pork sales to China the most, growing 37 percent to 143,900 tons. France saw only a modest 1 percent increase, to 74,000 tons.

Varkens.nl