News Pigs
Mexico blocks US pork imports
Mexico is blocking pork from meat giant Smithfield Foods on its border with the United States. The largest American pork producer, owned by the Chinese WH Group, has been banned from exporting to Mexico from its North Carolina location since last Wednesday (June 16).
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The reason for the import stop is concerns about the quality of a specific batch of pig skins. These go from the Smithfield factory in Tar Heel, in eastern North Carolina, to an external company in the United States. From that location the shipments are sent to Mexico.
According to Keira Lombardo, Chief Administrative Officer at Smithfield, something went wrong there. “We conducted a thorough internal investigation and determined that the problem originated with the third-party company, not Smithfield or the facility.” It is not known which company this concerns.
No worries
Smithfield Foods in North Carolina can slaughter approximately 34.5000 pigs per day, which represents approximately 7% of the total U.S. slaughter capacity. Although the blockade is not good news, concerns from the American sector are not immediately increasing. Smithfield says the export ban is temporary and that it is working closely with authorities to resume exports. Smithfield has several locations and can possibly export additional pork from other slaughterhouses.
Mexican import
Until 2020, Mexico was the most important sales market for the American pig sector in terms of volume. In 2019, the country purchased approximately 708.000 tons of pork worth almost $1,3 billion. Mexico was still a major importer in 2020, but was overtaken by China as the largest buyer at the time.