Pig Fever Pushes China to Open Offal Markets | Wibest

As an effect of the ravaging African swine fever, China now looks to get more imports from Brazil. Chinese pig exports have continued to cause trouble in Asian countries like the Philippines.

Beijing has recently upped its pig imports to fill the void left by the African swine fever in markets.

Yesterday, the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, said that Beijing finally granted permission for Brazilian pig imports. Thus, shipments from the South American country can finally start immediately.

According to a commodities expert, Brazil did not have access to the Chinese market and had planned to gain authorization before.

Brazilian pork exporters were thrilled from the news as the Chinese market pays higher compared to other countries. Sources say that mainland China buyers will pay twice as much compared to Hong Kong consumers.

According to government data, Hong Kong has been Brazil’s top market for pig shipments in the past years. However, things might change soon as Chinese firms appear to pay and order more than Hong Kong buyers.

Just this 2019, Brazil’s pig shipments to the Asian country went up 38% through last month. The industry’s revenue jumped 67%, according to the Brazilian government.

The surge in demand also increased pig prices by 67% over the past year.

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture has not yet specified which firms will be exporting pork to China.

Sources say that BRF S.A. is one of the firms that received access to the Chinese market.

BRF SA is a Brazilian company and is one of the largest goods companies in the globe. The company has over 30 subsidiaries and brands in its vast portfolio and ships in over 150 countries.

The company’s stocks immediately went up after the pig-related news broke out.

Devastated Market

The Chinese pork market suffered this year after the African swine fever broke out.

Consumers struggled to keep up with prices and have turned to alternate meats and proteins such as beef, chicken, and eggs. Just last week, egg futures reached record highs due to people switching to alternative products.

Pig prices have spiked by almost 70% in September when supply collapsed by 40% from a year earlier due to the outbreak.

Pork exports also went up by 70% in September from a year earlier.

Consumption in the world’s biggest pork market went down by half just this year. Pig meat has dominated the Chinese market by 60% of all protein consumption for years due to its relatively low prices.

Hardly enough, infected Chinese pork is also the main culprit for the spread of the disease in the Philippines.

The ripples of the African swine fever extended as far as Manila, where the country’s Department of Agriculture blames Chinese pigs. According to local news, the DA says the smuggled pork meat from mainland China started the infection in the country.

Yesterday, the Philippine Agriculture Secretary, William Dar, said that the Chinese pig imports were clear suspects. This is based on the seized illegal shipments at the Port of Manila last month.

The Philippine government now plans to press charges against the illicit act of Chinese pork traders. The jurisdiction on the smuggling probes is given to the country’s Bureau of Customs.