20/04/2020
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China expects to import more soybeans and pork this year following the novel coronavirus outbreak and African swine fever, which has decimated its pig herds.
Soybean imports are forecast at 92.48 million tonnes this year, rising to 96.62 million tonnes in 2025 and 99.52 million tonnes in 2029, an official from the agriculture ministry told a video conference on the outlook for agriculture released on Monday.
Pork imports this year are seen rising to 2.8 million tonnes, a 32.7% increase from the previous year.
China is a key buyer and consumer of soybeans and pork globally, and typically imports millions of tonnes of soybeans per year to crush for meal to feed its livestock.
The African swine fever outbreak, however, had slashed China’s pig herd by over 40% last year, reducing supplies in the world’s biggest pork consumer.
Combined with the coronavirus outbreak, which hit the transport of pigs and delayed the restart of slaughtering plants, prices of China’s favourite meat rose to record levels in February.
China has been increasing pork imports in recent months to make up for the drop in domestic supply.
Despite the expected surge in imports, China’s 2020 pork consumption is forecast to fall to 42.06 million tonnes, down 5.6% year-on-year, hit by high prices and a fall in consumer demand due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the agriculture ministry.
In line with the slowing consumption, China’s slaughtered pig herd this year will fall 7.8% year-on-year to 501.49 million heads. Pork output this year will also decline to 39.34 million tonnes from 2019, but will rebound to around 54 million tonnes in 2022.
In the longer term, however, pork imports are expected to gradually fall, the ministry forecast, while beef and mutton imports are set to increase in the next decade.
Meanwhile, China’s domestic soybean output is seen at 18.81 million tonnes in 2020, a 3.9% gain from the previous year, while crushing volumes were pegged at 85.98 million tonnes.
Soybean consumption will increase steadily and continue to rely mainly on imports in the next 10 years, said a ministry official.
The ministry also said China’s corn acreage and output are both set to increase in 2020, with production forecast to reach over 260 million tonnes this year, while annual rice output is expected to hold steady above 200 million tonnes per year in the next 10 years.
Source: Reuters
Posted in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2025, 2029, 40, African swine fever, agriculture, Agriculture ministry, Aid, beef, Beijing, biggest, buyer, challenges, China, China’s, Combined, Consumer, consumer demand, coronavirus outbreak, crush, decade, decimated, decline, delayed, despite, domestic supply, drop, due, expected, expects, fall, favourite, February, feed, following, forecast, from, globally, gradually, heads, herds, high, higher, hit, However, imports, increasing, industry, key, levels, Livestock, longer term, make up, meal, Meat, million, ministry, Monday, months, more, mutton, next, novel coronavirus outbreak, Official, outbreak, outlook, output, over, per year, Pig, pig herd, plants, Pork, previous, prices, rebound, recent, record, reducing, released, restart, rising, rose, sees, Shanghai, slashed, slaughtered, slaughtering, Soybean, supplies, surge, this year, to import, told, tonnes, Transport, typically, Uncategorized, video conference, while, world’s, year-on-year |
Leave a Comment »
09/09/2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Guangdong province said it will release 3,150 tonnes of frozen pork from reserves during the upcoming holidays, part of a campaign to secure supplies of the country’s favorite meat, local media reported on Monday, after a devastating disease ravaged the hog herd.
The pig herd in the major pork consuming region has fallen 34% from the previous year in the first half of 2019, while the sow herd dropped 43%, the Nanfang Daily reported, citing government statistics.
“Hog supplies will face an unprecedented, grave test,” the newspaper said, quoting an unnamed official with the provincial agriculture bureau, as it will be increasingly difficult to transport pigs into Guangdong from outside provinces due to falling production nationwide.
Various factors, including the environmental crackdown on illegal pig farming and outbreaks of African swine fever, are behind the fall, the official said.
Guangdong relies on supplies from other provinces. Authorities in Guangzhou, the capital city of the province, have said they will release 1,600 tonnes of frozen pork from reserves in September.
Major pig producers in the region including the Guangdong branch of agribusiness giant New Hope Liuhe, said they will further expand hog production in the area to help with supplies.
Liuhe, which currently supplies about 300,000 hogs a year in Guangdong, will add another 50,000 pigs to the market in the second half of the year, and expand pig production by 700,000 heads next year, according to Li Weifeng, general manager in charge of the Guangdong new district at the firm, the newspaper reported.
Local authorities are also promoting modern and large scale pig farms, to secure pork supplies in the region in the long run, the paper said.
China’s state planner said on Monday it will issue subsidies of up to 5 million yuan ($700,000) to support the construction of large-scale pig farms.
Source: Reuters
Posted in African swine fever, devastating disease, environmental crackdown, favorite meat, Guangzhou, hog herd, illegal pig farming, Nanfang Daily, New Hope Liuhe, outbreaks, pig herd, Pork, ravaged, release, reserves, secure supplies, Uncategorized |
Leave a Comment »
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 