News Pigs
Decline of Chinese pork purchasing in the picture
It has been talked about for a long time, but new figures from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture now make it clear: pork imports are on a nosedive.
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An absolute record volume was imported in March 2020. China imported 580.000 tons of pork in that month. Since then, the volume has steadily decreased to 210.000 tons in September 2021. A drop of no less than 65%. This is evident from the monthly statements of the Chinese government.
Further decline after stabilization
In the months of June and July, pork imports appeared to stabilize at a somewhat lower level. However, the volume took a big hit again in August and September. The table below shows the development from the second quarter of 2021.
| Month (2021) | metric tons |
| April | 430.000 |
| Mei | 370.000 |
| June | 340.000 |
| July | 350.000 |
| August | 280.000 |
| September | 210.000 |
These figures indicate the development of the volume of meat. The imported volume of pork by-products is not yet included in the above volumes. The volume of by-products has remained remarkably stable over this period. This varies between 100.000 and 120.000 tons per month and is in addition to the quantities shown above.
The recent sharp decline in volumes and the current low prices for pork in China do not bode well for the last months of this year. It is therefore not inconceivable that volumes will decline even further.