Canada’s largest exporter of pork products to China expects shipments to the Asian nation to jump as much as 60% next year amid renewed access to the market and a sharp increase in demand due to African swine fever.
The sunny outlook comes after a year of unprecedented swings in the fortunes of pork producers, who saw exports to China surge to record levels only to collapse when the country imposed a suspension on all Canadian meat in June.
China, the world’s largest consumer of pork, lifted its suspension in early November during the ongoing outbreak of African swine fever — a contagious pig disease expected to wipe out more than half of the country’s herd.
For pork farmers in this country, the suspension derailed what was on course to be a record year in which exports to China were expected to double. Indeed, the value of Canadian pork shipments to the country — $514.3 million in 2018 — had already shot to $419 million by June, when the suspension was issued.
Even so, the turnaround since the meat ban was lifted has been significant, he said. China, which consumes as much as 50 million tonnes of pork annually, is believed to be short between 20 and 30 million tonnes of the meat. World exports of pork amount to just 10 million tonnes, one million of them from Canada.
