March 3, 2009

US pork shipments to China in 2009 are likely to fall after large gains last year when illness in the animal population and a devastating earthquake forced China to step up imports.

US pork exports to China in 2008 rose 41 percent from the previous year to over 165,000 tonnes.

US Meat Export Federation president and chief executive officer Philip Seng said that Chinese pork imports this year were likely to fall short of its purchases in 2008.

Seng said productions were down dramatically in China in 2008 but numbers show today that total productions are up by about 6 percent.

Japan imported over 451,000 tonnes of pork from the US in 2008, and was its top export market.