China resumes US pork imports

China has begun buying US pork again - not the hams and pork chops popular in the West, but internal organs and other parts that appeal to the Eastern palate, according to Smithfield Foods Inc on Wednesday (May 19).

The country last week lifted a year-long ban on US pork, but at that time the US Agriculture Department said there had been no new sales to China. Smithfield said the latest purchases did not involve large quantities.

China had banned US pork amid concerns about swine flu. While the flu was not found in US hogs and is not transmitted by pork, human cases of the flu prompted the ban.

"We have now the first POs (purchase orders) in hand for new Chinese business. Those shipments are being prepared," said Chief Financial Officer Robert Manly.

The company will not be expanding its hog herd now that hog prices are profitable again, said Larry Pope, CEO of Smithfield Foods, the largest US hog and pork producer and a major exporter of pork.

Hog prices are up sharply this year due in part to a much smaller hog herd, the result of producers shrinking herds after two years of losses.