China's domestic pork production increase to slow US imports 

China's market has recently reopened to US pork, but US pork industry officials maintain a cautious stance as re-entry will be slow since China has increased production since 2008.

Philip Seng, CEO of the US Meat Export Federation, said China has been "somewhat successful" in ramping up pork production in the last couple years and has prevented the recurrence of health and sanitation issues such as the blue ear outbreak of 2007.

As such, the country's warehouses are relatively full of pork. "So we don't anticipate there's going to be the volume of pork going in there as there was in 2008," Seng said. US pork and pork variety meat exports to China peaked in 2008, totalling 3.66 million pounds valued at more than US$334 million.

However, Seng said the scenario can change very quickly. He noted that relative to the size of the Chinese market and its consumer base, the country's pork inventory is small, especially when compared with other Asian markets like Japan and Korea. Japan, in fact, will carry more inventories on a monthly basis than China, he said.

Seng said that speaks to the "volatility in China." "That's why China knows it is important for them to have certain markets that can supply them," he said.

US pork exports to China plummeted more than 60% in 2009. China's ban on fears of H1N1 played a large role, but domestic supply also was a factor; China's imports from all pork suppliers fell by 42% in 2009.

China remains the world's fifth-largest pork importer by volume. Seng said China's huge appetite for pork variety meats, which make up 75% of the total US pork exports shipped there, presents a promising opportunity for US suppliers.