From WATTAgNet:
Canada is now the top supplier of pork to China from North America, beating out the U.S., according to a China Daily report. China is the top pork-consuming country in the world.
The report from China Daily cited increasing affluence among the Chinese population as the driving factor in the country's growing demand for pork products. China is still a significant producer of its own pork products, as well.
Pork exports in the US still favorable
According to a recent report from WATTAgNet, U.S. pig producers are in a good spot now and in the near term thanks to a favorable export market for pork. With a projected 23 percent to 24 percent of U.S. pork to be shipped to foreign markets in 2018, this significant export revenue underscores the need for a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank, said Steve Meyer, vice president of pork analysis for Express Markets Inc. Analytics.
U.S. pork exports in 2017 are expected to reach approximately 5.4 billion pounds, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s February “Livestock, Dairy and Poulty Outlook”
US pork exports to China
U.S. pork exports to China have increased more than 70 percent year-over-year, ranking China’s pork market as the third largest for U.S. pork exports in 2016.
However, European pork accounted for a disproportionate share of Chinese imports of pork. The exchange rate may have made U.S. pork less competitive than Europe, despite the continent’s generally higher production costs.
US, Canada vie to satisfy China's voracious appetite for pork
BEIJING - Canada has overtaken the United States as the top North American supplier of pork to China as farmers and meat packers in both nations battle for lucrative shares of the biggest global market. Canada's pork sales to China, after a sharp rise last year, exceeded those of the US in the first quarter of 2017.
