US commercial pork production to decrease on fewer imports

Commercial pork production in the US for June is cut by 100 million pounds to 23.4 billion pounds on lower-than-expected imports of Canadian slaughter hogs and lower average dressed weights, according to the USDA monthly Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook report.

Production forecast for 2009 was reduced to 22.7 billion pounds, 235 million pounds lower than this year.

Live swine imports from Canada for April declined on-year by almost 2 percent while imports in May show a decline of almost 14 percent year-on-year.

Slaughter hog imports in April were about 15 percent lower than a year ago, while those imported in May was 40 percent less than May 2007.

Rather than exporting to the US for slaughter, more hogs were slaughtered in Canada in April, reversing a pattern seen most of this year and in 2007. Higher transport costs directly decrease Canadian producers-exporters' bottom line, creating incentives to reduce long-haul shipments to U.S packing plants.

This year US packers and swine finishers are expected to import about 9.9 million head of swine, about 1.2 percent below 2007.

In 2009, ongoing reductions in the Canadian breeding herd are expected to result in fewer imports: 8.8 million head, 11 percent below the 2008 import forecast.