China’s June pork imports climb 128 percent from same period in 2019
China’s customs authority reports that the country imported 400,000 tonnes of pork in June, jumping 128.4 percent from June 2019.
23 July 2020
3 minute read
By: Reuters reports that the jump in imports is due to a months-long buying spree tried to counteract a domestic shortage of pork supplies.
China’s pork output declined by about 20 percent in the first half of 2020 after an epidemic of African swine fever killed millions of China’s pigs in 2019.
The imports mark the fourth straight month of pork shipments of around 400,000 tonnes, double the volume of earlier records.
January to June pork imports were up 142.7 percent at 2.12 million tonnes.
Imports of pork including offal in June came to 540,000 tonnes, up 102.5 percent from a year earlier, bringing total imports for this year to end-June to 2.82 million tonnes, the data also showed.
Customs had earlier this month highlighted the huge meat imports in June.
Intake is expected to fall in coming months, however, after China started testing containers of frozen food for the presence of the coronavirus, slowing the trade.
China has also suspended imports from dozens of overseas suppliers after coronavirus outbreaks among workers.
Beef imports including offal in June were 180,000 tonnes, up 31.2 percent from a year earlier, said customs, with shipments for first-half 2020 reaching 1.01 million tonnes. Offal made up only a fraction of the combined imports.
