Farm-Scape, Episode 2069

Rabobank International credits a combination of factors for helping Canada achieve another record in terms of both the volume and value of its international pork exports.

Figures released last week show exports of Canadian pork reached 1.029 million tonnes during 2005, an increase of about 10 percent over 2004, reaching a value of 2.84 billion dollars Canadian, an increase of about five percent.

Rabobank Vice President of Food and Agribusiness Research Fiona Boal says we've seen key markets develop for Canadian pork, including japan, south Korea, Australia, and Romania, which has been an attractive high value market but which is likely to be lost as Romania seeks accession to the EU.

"Canadian pork has an exceptionally good reputation in the market and that's based on a number of key characteristics.

Obviously Canada has very stringent animal health, animal welfare and environmental regulations which consumers, in particularly the high end developed markets, are starting to take a lot of interest in.

We also know that Canadian pork exporters are very good at producing the exact products that consumers want and we know that often big importing countries like Japan like to split their imports between a number of countries.

What they don't want to be is stuck, like maybe there were with beef, with having the majority of their imported product coming from one market."

Boal says Canadian exports will likely stay around current levels but we have to be conscious of the competition.

She says US production is expected to be up between two and three percent and most of that extra product will be sent to its key export markets.

She adds the big one to watch, both now and longer term, is South America, including Brazil where production is expected to continue skyrocketing.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.