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China's swine fever outbreak sets off scrap over pork
(speaking of bacon)
TOKYO/BANGKOK/PARIS – The outbreak of African swine fever that is ravaging China's pig farmers is sending shock waves through Asia's market for imported meat. Importers in the region face a battle with Chinese buyers, while exporters reap a windfall.
The virus that causes ASF has no cure. Although it is harmless to humans, it is highly infectious and deadly to pigs.
China's latest outbreak struck in August 2018 and rapidly spread to 30 provinces. In January, the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs revealed that it has culled 900,000 pigs since the epidemic began.
Dutch bank Rabobank, estimates that China's hog herd will fall 30% to 40% this year versus 2018. "The pork meat production decline is expected to be between 9 million and 15 million tons, depending on the disease's development in the next few months," said Chenjun Pan, senior analyst for animal protein at Rabobank. "It's not very likely that the rest of the world will be able to fill the supply gap in China, given the sheer size of China's pork production."
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, China's swine herd numbered 440 million head in 2018, or 60% of the world total. China produces around 54 million tons of pork annually, almost all of which is consumed domestically.
But the prolonged ASF epidemic threatens China's self sufficiency in pork. It has turned to the European Union, which is the world's top exporter and second-largest producer after China itself. Denmark, Spain and Germany are major exporters.
"Abundant supplies have kept pork prices stable, but recently we cannot purchase unless we offer higher prices," said one Japanese trader. As Chinese importers have begun making bulk purchases, Japanese buyers are getting fewer offers from EU exporters.
According to France's agriculture ministry, the country's pork exports jumped 51% on the year in January. "The spread of African swine fever in China could once again increase European exports to Asia," the ministry said in a statement in March.
The Breton Pork Market, in the French region of Brittany, which sets the price of pork in France, estimates total EU exports to China in January and February reached 270,000 tons, up 13% from the previous year.
Prices are rising in response to the sudden surge in demand. On April 4, France's national pork producers association recently tweeted that it was "pleased to see the increase in the pork price for four weeks."
The U.S., the No. 2 pork exporter after the EU, was hit by Chinese tariffs of 62% amid an ongoing trade dispute. But, said Naohiro Nimura, a commodities expert at Market Risk Advisory in Tokyo, "China will be forced to purchase more pork from the U.S. sooner or later, as it faces a serious pork shortage." The June price for lean hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, hit 92.325 cents per pound on April 23, up 23% from compared with its March 4 low.
rest at link
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/China-s-swine-fever-outbreak-sets-off-scrap-over-pork
the indoctrination of failure is strong. Holly shitbag;s…over an admission's test?