Beijing has launched an official inquiry into the alleged undercutting of pork prices by EU exporters on the Chinese market, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, Polish farmers - who have long been banned from selling pork in China due to swine fever concerns - have called on Asian importers to buy from “safe regions” of Poland rather than considering all pork from the country as “unsafe.”
EU pork exports to China are worth some €2.5 billion a year, according to Eurostat. The Chinese probe into alleged dumping practices comes in the wake of Brussels’ imposition of 17% tariffs on the import of electric vehicles from China last week.
Many in the EU are concluding that the pork inquiry is a tit-for-tat move by China, which exports far more than it imports from the EU. The trade surplus stood at €291 billion euro in 2023.
However, the situation is more complicated than that. Demand for pork at Chinese New Year was considerably lower than expected, as local consumers are pressed by downturns in several areas of the economy.
After China encouraged its domestic producers to grow pork output twofold over the past two years through massive investment subsidies, in the spring the authorities enforced a lower national production target.
The cuts will “effectively reduce China’s pig herd size by at least 22 million,” Even Pay, an agriculture analyst at the Trivium China consultancy, told the porkbusiness.com website.
Slim hopes for Polish return to the market
Meanwhile, the prospects of Polish pig breeders returning to the Chinese export market look bleak. Back in 2013, the value of Poland’s growing pork exports to China topped 15 million euro. However, after African Swine Fever (ASF) spread from Lithuania and attacked Polish herds in 2014, the Chinese banned imports from Poland.
At that time China, Japan, Russia and Kazakhstan bought a third of Poland’s pork output.
Last week, the National Pork Council of Poland called on the government in Warsaw to encourage China to change its stance. The council wants meat from Polish regions with no outbreaks of ASF to be exported without the same restrictions that apply to infected areas.
African swine fever is a contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic pigs and wild boar. However, it cannot be transmitted to people, and properly prepared pork products are safe to eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
EU pork exports to China are worth some €2.5 billion a year, according to Eurostat. The Chinese probe into alleged dumping practices comes in the wake of Brussels’ imposition of 17% tariffs on the import of electric vehicles from China last week.
Many in the EU are concluding that the pork inquiry is a tit-for-tat move by China, which exports far more than it imports from the EU. The trade surplus stood at €291 billion euro in 2023.
However, the situation is more complicated than that. Demand for pork at Chinese New Year was considerably lower than expected, as local consumers are pressed by downturns in several areas of the economy.
After China encouraged its domestic producers to grow pork output twofold over the past two years through massive investment subsidies, in the spring the authorities enforced a lower national production target.
The cuts will “effectively reduce China’s pig herd size by at least 22 million,” Even Pay, an agriculture analyst at the Trivium China consultancy, told the porkbusiness.com website.
Slim hopes for Polish return to the market
Meanwhile, the prospects of Polish pig breeders returning to the Chinese export market look bleak. Back in 2013, the value of Poland’s growing pork exports to China topped 15 million euro. However, after African Swine Fever (ASF) spread from Lithuania and attacked Polish herds in 2014, the Chinese banned imports from Poland.
At that time China, Japan, Russia and Kazakhstan bought a third of Poland’s pork output.
Last week, the National Pork Council of Poland called on the government in Warsaw to encourage China to change its stance. The council wants meat from Polish regions with no outbreaks of ASF to be exported without the same restrictions that apply to infected areas.
African swine fever is a contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic pigs and wild boar. However, it cannot be transmitted to people, and properly prepared pork products are safe to eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Source: TVP World
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